A Dark Side
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: Everyone has a dark side. Some, are just more dangerous than others. And some, are more helpful.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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Accident

Beast Boy ducked as a Star Bolt shot over his head. He transformed into a dog, taking off at a sprint around the room. He heard the whistle as a Star Bolt shot forward to intercept him and skidded to a stop, the bolt hitting the wall before he took off again. Several bolts hit the wall behind him before his leg passed through a laser tripwire. He cursed. He had forgotten Cyborg had set traps to make his and Starfire's sparring session more fun. He leapt into the air, transforming into a hawk and crying out as he soared away from the wall. However, as he did, several large mechanical and oddly shaped machines grew out of the walls and ceiling.

"What are those?" Starfire asked.

Before Beast Boy could even consider trying to figure that out, one of the machines across the room from him unleashed a blast of electricity through the air, the blast hitting him squarely in the chest, forcing him to return to normal and sending him crashing into the wall. Starfire shouted in surprise, beginning to blast the machines as the rest opened fire. Electricity, energy, and even flame blasts shot through the air rapidly. Starfire was having trouble avoiding them so Beast Boy transformed into a roadrunner and took off, streaking past machines and ripping bundles of cords out of them, causing them to explode the next time they tried to fire. After a few minutes, the weapons were reduced to one electricity gun and two energy blasters. As Beast Boy moved to destroy another energy blast, a Star Bolt blasted him in the side, throwing him. He landed in a roll, transforming into an armadillo as he did before unfurling and landing on his feet, becoming a rhino, charging at Starfire. As he had expected, she easily shot out of his way and peppered his back with Star Bolts. As she did, he shifted into a mouse, scurrying between the bolts as he streaked toward her. Then, a blast of electricity collided with Starfire's back, Beast Boy skidding to a stop, eyes wide.

Starfire shrieked in pain, crashing into the wall and falling to the ground. There was a shout from the observation room and Beast Boy turned to look at the window. As he did, time seemed to slow. He could see Cyborg typing away on the keyboard, and Robin was sprinting for the door, but Raven was shouting something.

"Look out!" Raven shouted through the glass.

He turned to the guns just as all three fired. Two energy blasts hit him a second before the electricity. A moment later, a horribly burned full-sized Beast Boy was lying on the ground against the wall. As the door to the room opened, Starfire sat up then shouted in surprise upon seeing Beast Boy, then again when she saw the guns preparing to shoot him again. Before they could, a black aura surrounded all three and crushed them. Then, Raven shot to Beast Boy's side, kneeling and setting her hands on his chest, eyes wide and breathing quick. Robin and Cyborg knelt beside her and Raven swallowed hard, looking to Cyborg.

"He's not breathing," she said, Starfire kneeling beside him.

"Friend Beast Boy is going to be the o and k, yes?" Starfire asked, no one taking the time to answer as Cyborg pulled a series of wires out of his chest and attached them to Beast Boy's temples, chest, and the sides of his neck.

"His heart's still beating," Cyborg said. "There's still-"

The small screen on his arm suddenly flashed red several times and his eyes widened as he instantly puled a pair of metal paddles out of his chest.

"Clear!" he said urgently, Raven pulling her hands back instantly.

"What is going on?" Starfire asked, struggling to understand.

Cyborg put the paddles on Beast Boy's chest and his body suddenly arched off the floor for a moment, a gurgling sound coming from him.

"You are hurting him!" Starfire cried, reaching out to push Cyborg's hands away, only for Robin to catch hers, stopping her.

"Starfire," Robin said. "You need to stay back!"

"Come on Beast Boy!" Raven shouted, the glow around her hands intensifying. "Wake up, dammit!"

"Clear!" Cyborg said and again Raven pulled her hands back as Cyborg shocked him.

"Friend Beast Boy, you must open your eyes," Starfire said as Raven again began to heal him.

"His airway's swelling," Raven growled, sweat running down the side of her face, fear shining through in her eyes, right alongside desperation and determination. "The muscles around his heart too."

"Clear!" Cyborg said, but this time Raven didn't move. "Raven! Clear!"

Robin pulled her away and she shouted in anger, slapping him just as Cyborg shocked him yet again. Then, Raven was right back at it, hands glowing almost blindingly.

"Don't you dare Garfield," Raven snarled.

Cyborg looked at his arm, face falling.

"Still nothing," Cyborg said. "Raven...there's nothing-"

"Don't you dare!" Raven snapped, the light around her hands flickering, terror filling her face. "Nononono!"

The energy faded. She tried to restart it, fighting to continue to heal him, but nothing happened. Finally, she growled in frustration, beginning chest compressions.

"Raven," Robin said. "Raven that's enough. He's gone, Raven."

"No!" Raven snapped, not stopping in the least. "I can save him!"

"Raven, enough," Robin said, setting a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged it off, tilting Beast Boy's head back and giving him a breath.

"Friend Raven, I do not believe that kissing Friend Beast Boy will-" Starfire began but trailed off as she saw that Raven wasn't listening.

Raven gave him a second breath before growling in frustration and returning to chest compressions.

"Raven," Robin said, pulling her away from Beast Boy.

Bad move. Raven began to shriek profanities at him instantly, punching and slapping him rapidly to make him let go.

"I can't stop!" Raven finally shrieked, breaking free and returning to what she had been doing, restarting her chest compression cycle. "I can't stop! I can save him!"

She moved to give him a breath again but Robin caught her by the shoulders, turning her to look at him.

"Raven, he's dead!" Robin snapped, Raven freezing, eyes wide. "Beast Boy's gone! It's too late!"

"N...No..." Raven breathed, staring at him, eyes wide. "He's..."

Cyborg's arm suddenly beeped rapidly for a moment and everyone froze, watching as Beast Boy's chest began to rise and fall unevenly and his eyes winced, the skin around them cracking and beginning to bleed. He slowly opened them, staring up at them.

"Raven," he croaked, voice barely audible.

Raven stared at him. He was alive. She had saved him. She should heal him. She should slap Robin for trying to stop her. She should slap Cyborg for not helping. She was suddenly aware of a cool feeling on her cheeks. She reached up, wiping the spot with her fingertips before pulling her hand away to stare at the tears on her fingers. Suddenly, a black raven silhouette formed around her and vanished in the blink of an eye. Beast Boy stared at the spot before his eyes drifted closed again and he blacked out, Cyborg and Robin carefully rushing him to the elevator and then to the infirmary.

Beast Boy opened his eyes slowly, pain flaring through his whole body as he did. He looked around, seeing Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg around him.

"Hey guys," Beast Boy croaked, feeling barely any better than he had before. "Where's Raven?"

"She's in her room," Robin said. "She's been locked up in there since you were hurt. She comes down and heals you at night, I think. But she spends all day meditating."

"Why?" Beast Boy asked.

"She lost control of her emotions," Robin said.

"But why is that a problem now?" Beast Boy croaked. "Trigon doesn't have any power over her now, right?"

"My father will always have power over me," Raven said. "At least in part."

Beast Boy opened his mouth to speak but a black strip of dark energy appeared over his mouth.

"Quiet," Raven said. "I'm not in the mood for any stupid jokes or idiot remarks."

He blinked before she set a hand on the front of his throat, energy glowing around it. Beast Boy inhaled and it suddenly didn't hurt so bad to breathe. As she healed his throat, windpipe, and lungs, breathing and swallowing became less and less painful. Then, once that was healed, she began to work on the burns on his skin, starting with the places where his flesh was either blackened or missing altogether, as it was in two places on his right side where he had been shot.

Finally, she stopped, stepping back and turning toward the door. Beast Boy looked down at the now bright red burns in those places. The morphine, mixed with Raven's healing powers, kept his body from hurting too much, but he was still in pain.

"Wait, Raven," Beast Boy said. "Thank you for saving me."

Raven stopped, a hand on the door, and turned her head to stare at him for a moment before turning back to the door and leaving. Beast Boy blinked in surprise and looked to Robin and the others.

"Don't look at me," Robin shrugged. "I don't know what's going on. She was pretty worried about you, though. She was crying while she was trying everything to save you. Even CPR."

"Really?" Beast Boy asked. "Was I really so bad that she had to rely on that?"

"Her healing powers stopped working," Cyborg said.

"Yeah but don't you have chest paddles?" Beast Boy asked.

"Uh, they shorted out," Cyborg said. "Couldn't get them to work."

"Oh," Beast Boy said, before fighting not to yawn, for fear of aggravating the burns on his face. "I'm really thirsty."

"You're getting water from an IV drip," Cyborg said. "But tomorrow you can start drinking again. For now you're going to have to tough it out."

Beast Boy nodded before noticing the sad expression on Starfire's face.

"What's wrong Starfire?" Beast Boy asked.

"I wish to apologize," Starfire said. "It is my fault you were damaged. If I had destroyed the last of the guns, or allowed you to, you would not have been harmed. If I had not decided to attack you then, you would be unharmed."

"Starfire, it's not your fault," Beast Boy said. "You didn't know. And it's my fault anyway. I should have kept moving after you were hit. I'm not blaming you. It was my own fault. And I'm okay now. So there's nothing to worry about."

Starfire nodded, smiling slightly before standing.

"You must rest, Friend Beast Boy," Starfire decided. "I will make you lunch."

"Alright," Beast Boy nodded, smiling.

She smiled and left and Robin followed after wishing Beast Boy well. Cyborg said to hurry up and get better so he could whoop his ass at video games again and also left. Beast Boy's smile faded slowly and he sighed before closing his eyes, trying to ignore the pain of his burns and sleep, though he failed miserably at it.

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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High Tension

Beast Boy groaned, sitting on the couch. Cyborg was seated beside him, playing a racing game with Robin. Beast Boy shifted to try to get comfortable but brushed one of his burns on the couch and his breath hitched before he groaned.

"Do you have to be so loud?" Raven asked, voice flat as she read a book off to the side.

"Raven, he's covered in second degree burns still," Robin said. "He can't help it."

"It's alright, Robin," Beast Boy said. "Sorry, Raven. I'll try to be quieter."

She actually looked up at him in surprise for a moment before grunting and returning to her book. Robin looked at Beast Boy unsurely as Beast Boy shifted again and scrunched his face up, a hiss of pain escaping from him, though much quieter than it was. Robin and Cyborg both glanced at Raven who narrowed her eyes at the book before her face relaxed. They turned their attention back to the game and things were good for a couple of minutes, until Cyborg leaned a little too far to the left while turning his car and bumped into Beast Boy's burned shoulder. Beast Boy yelped in pain before clapping a hand over his mouth, cutting the sound short less than a second in. Raven's hands clenched the book tightly as she fought to keep her face emotionless. After a moment, Beast Boy lowered his hands, swallowing.

Just then, the door opened and Robin turned to look as Starfire floated into the room, opening the fridge and bending over to look, Robin's eyes glueing to her. He didn't even notice when Cyborg beat him, so Cyborg shoved him on the shoulder.

"Hey!" Robin complained. "No fair!"

"Well maybe if you weren't making dewy eyes at Star you wouldn't have lost," Cyborg grinned.

"Doing what?" Starfire asked, floating over to sit on the couch beside Robin who turned scarlet. "How does one make eyes made of dew? I believed dew was only either the water on the grass in the mornings or that wonderfully colored soda."

Cyborg chuckled and shook his head, Robin restarting the race and instantly taking off while Cyborg was distracted.

"Hey!" Cyborg shouted, massing his gas button and hunkering forward.

Beast Boy watched the two race for a time, glancing at Raven anytime they were extra loud. She didn't react once. He turned back to the screen just in time for Cyborg to take a sharp corner, leaning toward him. Beast Boy thought to move only for his burns to flare in pain, holding him still for Cyborg to ram into his shoulder hard. He clamped his teeth shut, already seeing Raven's hands squeezing the book. He swallowed several times, struggling to keep the shout of pain in. Cyborg leaned away almost instantly, quickly apologizing and Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut, putting a hand over his mouth. Then, finally, a groan escaped into his hand, muffled but still audible. Raven's book slammed closed, the window behind the Game Station shattering.

"God, do you even know how to shut up!?" Raven demanded, Beast Boy shrinking back from her silently. "You're so annoying!"

She turned to leave but now Beast Boy was angry. What did he ever do to make her angry?

"Then maybe you should have just let me die," Beast Boy said, everyone in the room freezing, Raven with her hand reaching for the control panel for the door.

Starfire clapped her hands over her mouth, Robin dropped his controller, and Cyborg accidentally crushed his, all three staring at him.

"If I'm so annoying, you missed your chance," Beast Boy said. "You could be free of me right now. I mean, you clearly regret saving me. The only times you visited me in the infirmary were to heal me, and then ever since I got out of that room, you've been unable to stay in the same room as me for more than a minute without biting my head off. If I'm so horrible, maybe you should have just let me die."

Raven remained rooted in place for another moment before her hand fell and she shot forward, passing through the door. Beast Boy stared at it before turning to the broken window and turning into a sparrow, flying out of it and to the shore, changing back and sitting on the rocks. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them, listening to the waves, struggling to ignore the stabbing pain from his burns resulting from him shifting. he should have known it was a bad idea, much less to fly, but he had needed to get away.

A sound reached his ears. The Titan Alarm. He smiled humorlessly. He couldn't go, so he had no reason to react. Still he groaned, pushing himself up to see Cyborg and Robin speed off, Raven and Starfire flying above them. He sighed. He knew they didn't need them. They never really had. They could handle anything they found waiting easily. Then, they would be back. He sighed, making his way painfully back to the tower, returning to the common room and unplugging Cyborg's broken controller, throwing it away and getting his personal one, plugging it in instead, then beginning to pick up the pieces of glass that had landed inside the room. By the time he was done, the others had been gone for nearly an hour. He began to worry but kept himself busy by cleaning as much as his burns allowed. Finally he finished dusting for the third time and stopped, staring at the door. He couldn't leave. If he left, he'd be in the way. He'd get hurt. Raven would have to heal him all over again. He stared at the ground. He'd be an even bigger annoyance than he already was.

He sighed and walked out of the tower and back to the shore, sitting back down He couldn't hear any battles raging, or super villains terrorizing the city, which meant that they had most likely finished, or were hurt. He shook his head. No, he wasn't going to think like that. They were fine. They were just mobbed by cameras, or children, or fans, or something. He stared at the water. They could have been back by now if that were the case. Raven could carry the vehicles, and Starfire and Raven together could carry Cyborg and Robin.

"Somebody looks awful lonely," a female voice said behind him.

He spun, agitating his burns and wincing before focusing his sight on the person. Bumblebee.

"What are you doing here?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's girls' night," Bumblebee said. "The others are handling things back home."

"If you say so," Beast Boy sighed. "Anyway, the others went out on an alarm. They've been out a while."

"You worried?" Bumblebee asked.

"They've never needed me before," Beast Boy said. "They'll probably be back soon."

Bumblebee nodded and walked over, kneeling beside him.

"I heard about the accident," she said. "You alright?"

"Physically sure," Beast Boy said. "But...nevermind. It doesn't matter."

"What?" Bumblebee asked.

"You'll see soon enough," Beast Boy said. "I can hear the bike and the car."

Bumblebee nodded and flew back to the tower to wait for their arrival, Beast Boy remaining where he was.

* * *

Robin and the others stepped into the common room and stopped.

"Hey guys!" Bumblebee greeted, standing and walking over. "How was the fight?"

"Easy," Robin said. "Thankfully it was just a few robbers. Wow, did you clean?"

"No," Bumblebee frowned. "I just got here."

"But the only other person here is...hey, where's Grass Stain?" Cyborg asked.

"Beast Boy?" Bumblebee asked. "He's out by the water."

"Still?" Cyborg blinked.

"Perhaps I should go and check on Friend Beast Boy," Starfire offered.

"Good idea," Robin nodded. "See if you can get him to come inside."

"Oh let him stay out there," Raven said. "He's less annoying out there."

"Did you two have a fight or something?" Bumblebee asked.

Raven didn't respond and simply floated over to the couch, sitting down and picking up her book.

"If only it was only one," Robin sighed. "She's been at his throat ever since he got out of the infirmary. It's getting annoying."

"She yelled at him earlier for being too loud because I accidentally bumped into his burn twice," Cyborg said.

Bumblebee's eyebrows rose a bit and she turned to look at Raven just as Starfire flew Beast Boy back in through the missing window, setting him down inside.

"Hey Beast Boy," Robin said.

"We brought you pizza," Cyborg said, holding out the box. "Sorry, we got hungry and decided to grab a bite."

Beast Boy nodded, walking over and accepting the box, setting it on the table before stopping, sniffing. He opened it and simply stared at it, letting the top fall back.

"It's pepperoni," Beast Boy said, turning and walking away from the table, heading toward his room.

"Couldn't you pick it off?" Robin asked, shooting Cyborg a dirty look as he shrugged apologetically.

"The taste would still be there," Beast Boy said simply. "I'm just going to go try and sleep."

He left the room and the others all stood silently for a few seconds.

"So, what brings you here Friend Bumblebee?" Starfire asked.

"It's girls' night," Bumblebee grinned.

"Oh, that is right!" Starfire grinned broadly. "Friend Raven, will you be joining us for the painting of the nails?"

"No," Raven said flatly. "I have to meditate."

"But could you not do the meditating after?" Starfire asked hopefully.

"I said no, Starfire!" Raven snapped before sighing. "I'm going to meditate. Don't disturb me."

They remained silent while Raven left the room.

"Is she mad about something?" Bumblebee asked.

"You heard what happened to Grass Stain, right?" Cyborg asked, getting a nod. "Well, best we can figure, she was too scared that he was going to die to try to control her emotions. She was pretty bad. To say terrified would be an understatement. She was so bad off she couldn't even heal him. She resorted to CPR."

"Don't you have chest paddles?" Bumblebee asked.

Cyborg shifted nervously.

"Well..." Cyborg said.

"You didn't use them?" Bumblebee gaped.

"I did," Cyborg said. "But he...it didn't work. I tried it a few times but...Grass Stain was gone. Raven lost it, hitting anyone who tried to stop her and giving him CPR. We're not sure how, but it worked. She saved him. Course, as soon as she saw he was going to be okay, she realized how much she had lost control of her emotions and ran off to get control. For days, she stayed locked up in her room, meditating and healing him at night, when everyone else was asleep. We all figured it was because she was still too worried to keep control. But then, after he got out, she started biting his head off every time he made a sound, acting like he was using a bull horn next to her ear. It just got worse. Earlier..."

"What?" Bumblebee asked.

"It was bad," Robin said. "Raven said that he was always annoying, and that he didn't know how to shut up. Granted, he _is_ covered in burns and Cyborg did bump into him a couple of times."

"That's understandable that he'd make noise the," Bumblebee said.

"We know," Robin said. "But, she was mad. She started to leave but...Beast Boy...He seemed to finally snap. She had been yelling at him for nothing, and calling him annoying, and he had had enough. He said..."

"He said that if she found him so annoying she shouldn't have saved him," Cyborg said, Bumblebee covering her mouth. "He said that if she hadn't, she'd be free of him. And how she'd be so much happier without him there."

"Oh my God," Bumblebee breathed. "That's awful!"

"Like we said," Robin said. "It's been bad. We can't figure out why she's so mad at him. But she just seems to keep getting worse."

Bumblebee nodded and sighed.

"I'm really sorry," Bumblebee said. "I'm sure she'll calm down soon."

Robin nodded before Bumblebee grinned, grabbing Starfire's hand and dragging her away.

"No interrupting!" Bumblebee called back as she ran.

Robin sighed.

"Well," Robin sighed. "Wanna put the window back in, or play some more first?"

Cyborg grinned and a moment later, they were both on the couch, hooting and hollering as they raced.

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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Decision

Beast Boy limped to the door, teeth clamped tightly shut. He had really hoped it wouldn't happen, but it had. The thin layer of fresh skin and scabs on his burns had peeled off as he slept, leaving the burn raw and agonizing again. What was worse, was the strip of healthy skin that had peeled off of the bottom of his foot with it. He pulled the fridge open, staring into it. No tofu. No salad. He opened the cabinet. No cereal. No breakfast.

He limped to the couch, sitting down carefully just as the door hissed open and he could swear the temperature in the room plummeted. He reached for the TV remote but thought better of it. He didn't want to make her mad again. Instead, he lay on his side on the couch, wincing and squeezing his eyes shut as his burned arm scraped the back of the couch. He felt a tear leak unbidden out of his eye and fall to the couch. After a few seconds, the pain faded and he slowly opened his eyes, seeing Raven floating over her chair, back to him and reading a book. He stared at her for a moment, hurt that she would go through the trouble of levitating herself just so she could face away from him. He closed his eyes again, feeling more tears threatening to spill over, though not because of his burns this time. He swallowed his emotions, carefully using his good arm to dry his eyes, keeping them closed. After a bit, the door hissed open and Starfire began to greet them only to stop upon seeing Beast Boy lying down like he was trying to sleep. Cyborg and Robin walked in a little while after and Beast Boy heard Robin's almost silent sigh. An alarm went off suddenly and Beast Boy opened an eye as Raven shut it off with her powers.

"Sit up," Raven said without looking at him.

Beast Boy didn't speak. He silently and slowly lifted himself into a sitting position, taking nearly thirty seconds to get all the way up without aggravating his burns. Once he was up, he released a breath he had been holding and Raven stood, walking over and holding her hand over his burns, white light filling the space between her hand and his arm. Then, she slowly moved it over his burns, the pain slowly beginning to fade as she did. Then, finally, she turned, walking back to her chair and beginning to hover over it facing away from him again, book in her hands again. Beast Boy stared at the floor, a tear managing to slip out before he pushed himself up, limping to the elevator.

"I'll be by the water," Beast Boy said quietly as he passed Robin. "Not that you'll need me."

He left in silence and Robin turned to Raven.

"Why the hell are you so mad at him?" Robin asked.

Raven turned the page in her book and remained silent.

"Answer me Raven!" Robin snapped. "What the hell did he do to piss you off?"

Raven remained silent, using her powers to lift her tea to her lips, taking a sip. Robin growled in annoyance, walking toward her, Raven's hood floating up to hide her face as he did. He stopped in front of her, and still, she remained silent.

"Answer me!" Robin snapped. "Why are you angry with Beast Boy?"

Raven slowly closed her book, then set it aside before reaching up, lowering her hood, Robin's folded arms falling to his sides as his eyes shot up to his hair. Cyborg and Starfire, both of whom were still behind Raven, began to walk around only for Raven to lift her hood back up.

"Raven..." Robin began.

"Don't," Raven said. "Nothing you say will change anything."

"But...Raven, you're an empath," Robin said. "You can't possibly be okay with this."

Raven remained silent, picking up her book again and beginning to read it again. Robin sighed, sitting on the couch and picking up the remote, turning on the TV and sighing.

"This is going to end poorly," Robin said.

Raven nodded and Starfire stepped forward.

"Friend Raven, may we please do the private talking please?" Starfire asked.

Raven set her book aside again and followed Starfire out of the room. Once they were safely out of the common room, Starfire spun around, yanking Raven's hood down before she could stop her. She gasped and Raven pulled the hood back up.

"But...why?" Starfire asked.

"You can't say anything, Starfire," Raven said. "Promise me. You can't say anything to Beast Boy or Cyborg. It'll just make this harder."

"I do not understand," Starfire said. "Why must this happen?"

"Because I lost control, Starfire," Raven said. "I lost control completely. We got lucky. Instead of my father taking control, I simply lost my power. It could have been worse."

"But...but that is already over," Starfire said. "That does not explain this."

Raven sighed, staring at the floor.

"Please don't tell him," Raven said. "Please. He has to think I hate him. Otherwise..."

Starfire nodded, landing lightly on the floor.

"I will not tell him," Starfire said. "But you need to. He deserves to know."

Raven stared at the floor and Starfire walked past her to the common room.

* * *

Beast Boy stared at his reflection. His chest felt hollow. His entire body felt like it was on fire, as though her were being blasted all over again each time his heart beat. His pulse only made it worse. So did anything touching it. Even the air. He stared at his reflection, Raven's words replaying through his head again and again.

 _Do you even know how to shut up?...so annoying!...Too stupid to dodge a practice turret...so useless!...always holding the team back._

He felt his chest constrict, shoulders shaking once as a tear fell from his chin to the water, disrupting his reflection. She was right. She was always right. The team didn't need him around. Raven didn't want him around. And all he had been since the accident was dead weight with the added effect of annoying everyone. The team would be better off if he left. It was his fault he got hurt. It was his fault Raven had to waste energy healing him. it was his fault that she had almost lost control of her emotions. It was his fault that she was so mad all the time now. It was his fault that Slade's spy got access into the team.

He slumped lower, trembling constantly now. He had been messing up since the team started. Getting hurt in fights, falling behind in fights and arriving late, being easily manipulated by Terra. He had always been the weakest link. It was past time for him to face facts. He didn't belong. It was fun while it lasted, but he couldn't hold them back any more. He grit his teeth, pushing himself up and limping back to the tower. He made his way through the common room in silence, keeping his eyes on the floor and ignoring the others when they asked if he was okay. He went to his room, grabbing his backpack and setting t on the floor, pulling out his uniforms before dropping them on the floor, stuffing a single pair of jeans, a plain white tee-shirt, and a pair of boxers into the bag and closing it. Then, he scooped everything on his floor up, throwing it into a trash bag and then carrying the trash bag out of his room and to the trash chute leading to the dumpster outside the tower. He dropped it into the chute and returned to his room. he stripped off the bedding and carried it to the laundry room, putting it in and starting it before returning to the room one last time, lying on his bare mattress.

He was ready. The window was open, his bag was packed, the rest of the room was bare and devoid of life, and his wings could probably last until the city. From there, he could get a cab for a ways before walking. All he had to do was say his goodbyes.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters. I wanted to try this out.

* * *

Titans Go International

Beast Boy stepped into the common room just as the alarm sounded. Beast Boy sighed.

"Go," Beast Boy said. "I'll stay here and watch the tower."

The others all nodded, heading out into town as Beast Boy sat in front of the window, sighing and watching the city. After a couple of minutes, blue and pink clouds of smoke began to spring up all around the city, the tiny specks of the Titans flying around after something to fight it. Beast Boy fought the urge to shift in order to find out what they were fighting. He was sure he'd find out soon enough anyway. It looked like it was heading toward the tower. Sure enough, a few minutes later his communicator came to life.

"Beast Boy, he's heading your way!" Robin shouted.

"On it," Beast Boy said, pressing the button that activated the tower defenses.

As soon as the enemy, a person wearing a suit that was blue on one side and pink on the other with a jet pack using matching flames, was in range, laser cannons and energy blasters sprung to life on the tower, opening fire at him. Beast Boy smirked. He knew first hand how much of a kick they could pack. However, the man seemed to be prepared, because within three minutes, his explosive pink and blue shuriken had destroyed all of them and the man began to fly around the tower, shuriken exploding inside of it in a trail after him.

"Oh someone please catch me," Beast Boy sighed, sprinting at the window as the man drew near.

Then, he crashed through the window, transforming into a guerrilla and pulling his fists back. Just as his fists crashed into the man's head, launching him downward, a pair of shuriken stabbed into his chest, beginning to flash. Beast Boy ripped them out, hurling them away and a black sphere appearing around them, absorbing the explosion. Then, Starfire caught the enemy, now completely unconscious, and a black aura appeared around Beast Boy. Beast Boy shifted back, groaning in pain as he did.

"You idiot!" Raven snapped as she flew over, beginning to heal his reopened burns. "When are you ever going to stop screwing up?"

Beast Boy's chest compressed but he remained silent, allowing her to heal him. Once inside, Robin took the rainbow ninja wannabe into the interrogation room then returned, beginning to get the basic systems back online. While he did, Beast Boy wordlessly began to clean up the debris and shattered glass that had resulted from the ninja's explosive shuriken. Starfire and Cyborg helped and Raven put almost everything they swept into a pile back into place with her powers, some pieces remaining missing and being thrown out the open window.

"Good job stopping the freak Grass Stain," Cyborg said after a while of cleaning in silence. "He didn't even know what hit him."

"Yes, you were most well timed with your attack of surprise," Starfire said.

Beast Boy smiled slightly.

"It was stupid, reckless, and pointless," Raven said, Beast Boy's smile vanishing instantly. "If I hadn't caught you, you'd have died. If you'd have missed, you'd have died. If I hadn't shielded you from the explosion, you'd have died. If I didn't heal the wounds the blades caused, you'd have died. In all cases, you'd have died without me. Again. You're so much of a liability that I can't even leave you alone at the tower without you trying to kill yourself. When are you ever going to think before you act?"

"I did think," Beast Boy mumbled.

"How so?" Raven asked. "You thought about splattering yourself across the ground?"

"I could smell you," Beast Boy said. "I knew you were nearby and I trusted you to catch me."

"Oh, I see," Raven snarled, turning toward him, hood up. "So you _knew_ that you were making me save your needy ass, _again_! You _knew_ that you weren't going to be able to save yourself by shifting into a bird and you _chose_ to force me to have to catch you! Well that's just great! Why don't I just brush your teeth and feed you too!?"

Beast Boy knelt, hiding his face behind his bent leg as he let tears spill over, sweeping the floor. After a moment, tapped the broom on the ground to make a dust cloud then reached up, using it as an excuse to wipe his eyes and face before standing. Just as he did, Robin burst into the room, soaking wet and looking around wildly.

"What?" Beast Boy asked.

"Where's Psycho Tech?" Robin asked.

"Who?" Cyborg asked.

"The guy we were fighting," Robin said. "I used the translation software to understand what he was saying and he said his name was Psycho Tech and that he was from Tokyo, sent to attack us by some guy named Brushogan. Then he flipped and kicked the water sprinkler and vanished."

"I'll check the scanners," Cyborg said, walking to the computer and plugging himself in. "I don't know what to tell you man. He's gone. Systems can't find any trace of him."

"I can't make psychic connection either," Raven said.

"Perhaps this Psycho Tech possessed the power of teleportation?" Starfire guessed, Robin sighed.

"No, if he had that ability he would have used it the moment he realized he had been captured," Robin said.

Everyone looked to Beast Boy who had returned to sweeping the debris into his dust pan.

"What about you Beast Boy?" Robin asked. "No ideas? At the very least you must have some joke about water?"

"Not in the mood for jokes," Beast Boy said. "I don't know how he escaped. I can't smell him. I couldn't smell him before. Whatever he was wearing, it just smelled like he used too much dye when he was shading the colors."

"Too much dye?" Robin asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy nodded. "He smelled like ink."

"Who colors a costume with ink?" Robin blinked.

"Once it stains it stays as long as paint," Beast Boy said. "It's just cheeper."

Robin blinked, staring at him as Beast Boy continued to clean.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked.

"Fine," Beast Boy said. "So, we going to Tokyo or what?"

"Yeah," Robin said. "We'll go find his boss, Brushogan."

Beast Boy nodded, dumping the last of the debris into a pile and walking to his room, grabbing the backpack and one set of spare uniform pieces he had kept before returning to the others.

"Ready," Beast Boy said.

"That was fast," Robin said.

"I don't need much," Beast Boy said. "Just some spare clothes."

Robin nodded, looking to the others.

"Pack your things," Robin said. "We're leaving in an hour."

The others all nodded and an hour later, they were all sitting in their spots in the T-ship, heading for Tokyo. After several hours of flying, bickering over which way to go, and Beast Boy sitting silently in his seat so as not to anger Raven who was trying to sleep, they landed in the countryside outside of Tokyo, everyone but Beast Boy getting out right away. Beast Boy waited a couple of minutes before opening his pod and climbing out, dropping lightly to the ground and grabbing all of the bags out of the back of the ship. Robin had a wheeled suitcase, Raven had a toothbrush in a plastic baggie, Starfire had some sort of animal with its tail and nose wrapped together to shape itself like a handbag, Cyborg had several cases full of spare parts, and Beast Boy had his backpack. He set the others things, minus Raven's, down behind them and they turned to him, staring in silence.

"I figured you were all going to need them eventually," Beast Boy said. "And I figured you wouldn't want this on the ground."

He held out the baggie and Raven took it in silence before beast Boy started down the hill toward the city. The other grabbed their things, following silently. After a little while, they reached the city and stopped after a ways, looking around.

"Alright, where to now?" Cyborg asked.

"The roughest part of town is in the Shinjuku district," Robin said, looking at a book he had brought.

"Okay," Cyborg said. "And which way is that?"

"I have no idea," Robin said. "I can't read any of the signs."

"Let's see if anyone speaks English," Beast Boy suggested.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance," Starfire said, looking around.

She walked over to a boy about their age, give or take, and stopped him, instantly kissing him. Raven raised an eyebrow, Cyborg and Robin's jaw's dropping and Beast Boy blinked twice before looking away. Not his problem. Not his concern. After a moment, Starfire pulled away, saying something in Japanese, the boy answering and pointing. Then, Starfire said something else, bowing slightly, and the boy walked away, Starfire turning back to the others.

"Uh, Starfire?" Robin asked. "Why did you just kiss that guy?"

"Oh, the people of my planet are able to learn any language instantaneously through lip contact," Starfire explained.

"So you speak Japanese now?" Cyborg asked, Starfire nodding. "That's great!"

Starfire turned and began to walk and Beast Boy glanced at Robin, seeing his posture steadily growing more and more stiff. The others followed Starfire and after he had passed Robin, he heard Robin's uniform shift as he hunched forward, following.

"Yeah, great," Robin huffed.

Beast Boy felt a wave of sympathy roll through him. He remembered when they first met, the first thing Starfire did, as soon as she had stopped beating Robin, Cyborg, and himself into the ground, was kiss Robin, which was the basis of their instantly great friendship, beast Boy would guess.

Suddenly, people were running past, screaming. One stopped, pointing and shouting before taking off again, clearly trying to warn them. Everyone turned to Starfire.

"What are they saying?" Raven asked.

"Run, the monster is attacking the power lines," Starfire said.

Then, the ground began to shake, a massive green reptilian creature stomping into view, roaring. They all sprinted after it, Robin hurling several explosive disks and Starfire peppering it with star bolts as Raven hit it with blasts of Dark Energy. The thing roared, turning toward them just as Cyborg's sonic cannon blasted a hole in it. Beast Boy sniffed and scrunched his face up.

"Whoever made this thing used too much dye too," Beast Boy said.

"Wait, this thing smells like ink too?" Robin asked.

Suddenly, the hole filled in with a white substance from top to bottom, then pink replaced the white in the same fashion, then blue, then yellow, then finally it was green again.

"Same power as Psycho Tech," Cyborg said.

"Because it works for Brushogan too," Robin guessed just as the ting leaned forward, eyes glowing green.

"Look out!" Beast Boy shouted, everyone scattering as a blast of energy hit the ground, the debris hurling Beast Boy but the rest getting clear.

He pushed himself up, growling in annoyance and looking up at the thing. It was chasing after Robin, trying to step on him, swat him with it tail, blast him, but he simply cartwheeled and flipped out of the way. Then, Raven began to bombard it with cars, ineffectively. It began to chase after Raven, who gave up trying to hurl cars and Beast Boy leapt into the air, becoming a falcon. Just as the creature's hand grabbed Raven, Beast Boy flew up, transforming into a guerrilla and slamming both fists into it, hurling it backward. Then, he landed on his feet, shifting back and gingerly holding his wounded shoulder, Raven floating down beside him silently. The creature roared just as Cyborg blasted it and it looked over at him. He grabbed a pole and grinned.

"Cyborg wait!" Beast Boy shouted. "That's a-"

Cyborg ripped the pole off, saying something about baseball, before the neon billboard attached at the top of the sign fell, crashing down on top of him. It moved to attack Cyborg and Starfire punched it, making it reel backward before passing it only to get stuck in power line. She screamed as the creature grabbed her, but Robin hit the creature in the side of the head with a bird rang, electricity flying off.

"Raven, I need you to make my burns numb," Beast Boy said.

Raven didn't question him as she turned, beginning to work quickly as Robin drew the creature's attention and ran, getting Starfire the chance to escape as the creature chased him.

"Done!" Raven said, backing away just as Robin ducked into a side alley.

Beast Boy squeezed his eyes closed.

"He wants to play Godzilla, fine," Beast Boy growled. "Let's play."

He began to grow, a massive roar tearing out of his lungs almost instantly, the creature turning toward the newest threat as Beast Boy grew, spines sprouting down his back, fingers and toes growing into claws and a massive tail extending behind him. Then, he roared again, the sound much deeper this time. he was now as tall as the creature, and it roared as well, charging him. Beast Boy met the charge, injured arm hanging limply at his side but his free arm too short to be of use anyway, like a T-rex's arm. Beast Boy rammed head first into the creature, knocking it backward into the street. He backed away as it stood, then they charged again, their heads colliding and skipping off of each other before Beast Boy grabbed the creature by the throat, turning and slamming it to the ground. The creature rammed his foot into Beast Boy, knocking him backward into a building before standing. Then, it charged, ramming its head into Beast Boy's before biting into his neck. Beast Boy roared, turning away, a pair of nasty-looking gashes opening before beast Boy's tail crashed into the creature, knocking it over and Beast Boy returned to his human form, holding his neck, face scrunched up in pain. Green stained his uniform but he knew instantly from the smell that it was ink.

"Hold still," Raven said, landing beside him and beginning to heal the blessedly shallow cuts in his neck. "Never fails."

Beast Boy shoved her hands away, standing and transforming into a cheetah, taking off at a sprint before leaping into the air at the creature, transforming into a wooly mammoth midway and crashing into the creature, actually managing to throw it with the force. Then, he landed and transformed back, breathing hard and holding his neck again just as numerous vans and police cars skidded to a stop around the downed monster, a short thin man with a brown detective-style hat and coat stepped out.

"Troopers, charge!" the man shouted.

The vans opened and dozens of well-armed, armored soldiers flooded out, opening fire on the creature, distracting it while helicopters flew overhead, more troops rappelling out of them and setting red devices on the ground, the devices attaching themselves with cords and forming a circle around the creature. Then, the man drew a long metal rod like it was a katana and slammed it down on a section of cord, the rod glowing with blue markings before rays of light shot out of the individual pieces of the circle, forming a cage around the creature.

"We have got to get one of those," Cyborg said.

Then, the cage shrunk down, pulling the monster to its knees.

"Ah, you are the Teen Titans?" the man in charge asked, sheathing his strange rod into a sheath, making it look like a katana. "Welcome to Japan. I am Commander, Uehara Daizo of the Tokyo Troopers."

He bowed and the Titans returned the gesture.

"Come, allow me to give you a tour as we head back to HQ," Daizo offered. "We have much to discuss."

Robin nodded and they all followed him. Beast Boy sniffed but wrinkled his nose up. The ink from his ruined uniform was a lot stronger than he realized. He sighed. If nothing else, at lsat he would be able to give Raven the space she wanted while they were in Tokyo. Robin would want them splitting up to search for Brushogan.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

Traps

"Dude, why are we even bothering to look?" Cyborg asked. "You heard the commander. Brushogan's not real."

"Psycho Tech was, though," Robin said. "And Psycho Tech was sent by someone. So we need to fine out who, even if Brushogan isn't real. We're going to split up. Normally, I would suggest going alone, but since I'm the best at interrogating people, and Starfire is the only one who speaks Japanese, I'll be going with her."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's the only reason," Cyborg muttered.

"Alright, we'll get looking too," Beast Boy said, turning to walk away.

"Not yet," Robin said. "Raven, since you're the only one who can heal, and since Beast Boy's still wounded, you're going to go with him. Heal him as much as you can while you search. And see what you can find about Brushogan's legend. Just to be safe."

"Fine," Raven said.

"And Raven," Robin said, making Raven look back at him. "Be nice."

Raven stared at him for a moment before nodding and flying away. Beast Boy stopped after a little ways, when he reached a small store on the side of the road selling books. He stared at them but there was nothing in any language besides Japanese. Even comics. he wanted to go to the comic book store in Tokyo, one so famous that every comic nerd in the entire world wanted to visit even though they wouldn't be able to actually read anything, be he knew better than to ask Raven for permission. She hated him enough as it was.

"I would have figured you'd be on your way to that comic book store," Raven said, landing behind him.

"I knew you wouldn't want to go," Beast Boy said.

Raven walked over to the boy their age waiting for someone to buy something.

"I know English, German, Latin, Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit," Raven listed. "Do you have anything I can read?"

The boy reached under the counter and handed her a stick of gum.

"Super Twinkle Donkey Gum," Raven read, staring at it blankly before staring at the boy.

After a moment, he winked at her and Raven visible shivered in disgust. He was fat, sweaty, and had a pedophile mustache. Beast Boy felt his own stomach roll unpleasantly for multiple reasons. Raven unwrapped the gum, putting it in her mouth and turned, walking away, Beast Boy following.

"So, where do you want to start?" Beast Boy asked.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

"We're supposed to be looking for any leads on Psycho Tech," Beast Boy said.

"I'm also supposed to heal you," Raven said. "And since when do you care about what we're supposed to be doing?"

"I just want this waste of a trip to be over," Beast Boy said. "My clothes smell like ink, the commander and his soldiers smell like ink, this city smells like ink. Tokyo reeks of ink. I just want to go home, take a nice hot shower, and smell something other than ink again. I don't even want to know how many brain cells the fumes from this ink is killing."

"You probably don't have much to worry about as far as your brain cells are concerned," Raven said.

Beast Boy stopped, clenching his fists. He grit his teeth, breathing deeply and fighting the sudden flash of anger back. He couldn't make a scene. He was in a foreign country, in the center of one of the most populated cities in the world. He had to behave himself.

"Let's go Beast Boy," Raven said, looking back at him from under her hood. "It's time for me to heal you again."

"No," Beast Boy said. "I can tell you want to be away from me so you go ahead. I'll give you your space. After all. We're under orders not to fight, right?"

Just then, a female's voice off to the side giggled and both turned to look.

"Otaku," the girl giggled before winking at Beast Boy, who raised an eyebrow.

She waved a hand for him to follow and ran off.

"Well that's obviously a trap," Raven said.

"Why?" Beast Boy snarled. "Because an attractive girl wants me to follow her? Yeah, you're probably right. Given my history and the way girls hate me for who I am, she's probably another Terra right? But hey. That just means if I follow her I'll find Brushogan easier. And if not, maybe there's actually a person who gives a shit about me. See you around. Don't bother following me. I know how important it is for you to get away from me."

And with that, he stormed off, following the girl. Raven stared after him for several long moments before taking a step forward only to stop. Then, she turned, pulling her cloak tighter around her as she made her way down the sidewalk. It was already getting late. they had spent most of the day talking with Commander Daizo. She walked along as the streets darkened and emptied of others. She stopped at a few book stores along the way but still found nothing in English. Finally she stopped, sighing. A shiver ran up her spin and she spun around, seeing only the empty street. Then, a breeze blew past, blowing her hood down and continuing down the street and into a shop. She sighed, walking over to it and parted the curtains in the doorway.

"Hello?" Raven asked. "Anybody here?"

Receiving no answer she looked around again.

"This is probably a bad idea," Raven said, walking into the shop.

* * *

Beast Boy let his arm drop, brain still reeling. He had just gotten done singing a song about the Teen Titans to a karaoke bar filled with girls. the one he had been following was nowhere to be found, but before he could set off to try to find him again, the rest swarmed him, beginning to giggle and fight to be able to be closer to him, somehow getting lipstick marks over every inch of his face except his lips. He got one hand free, wiping the lipstick away and grimacing. Even Japanese lipstick smelled like ink.

* * *

Robin watched Starfire fly away. He had fucked up. He had spent the entire day with her, watching her dominate a video game that somehow involved dancing on a light-up tile floor, guitar hero, and whack-a-mole, taking a very romantic and fun boat ride, watching sumo wrestlers throw each other out of the ring for Starfire's first time. And it had all come to a close with them on top of a tower, watching the sunset and talking about what a kiss meant for Tamaranians and Earthlings. Then, they had almost kissed. But Starfire had said something, that they had nothing to fear. And just like that, Robin remembered that they were there to find Psycho Tech, not to enjoy themselves. Not to take a vacation. And not to start a relationship. He had been careless and had let his emotions get the better of him. But now, he was thinking clearly again. He had reminded Starfire what their job was, that they didn't have time for vacation, or for relationships. He had told her that he was a hero first and always. Then, he had told her if she didn't like it she could leave. Or at least, he had been about to. But the thought of her leaving had stopped him mid-sentence. She had responded by telling him that he would never understand how much she liked him being a hero. Then, She flew off.

"Great," Robin said, pulling the small pink ball that Robin had gotten from psycho Tech, one that somehow flattened out into one of his shuriken, though he hadn't been able to figure out how, and stared at it.

How could he find Psycho Tech with his translator gone. He stopped, staring at the ball then up at Starfire. Translator? That's it? He shook his head, putting the ball away and using his grappling hook to swing away from the rooftop, landing in an open section of neon sign. He felt confused, as though every part of his brain was fighting for attention and control, and were all being obliterated at once. He had too many thoughts, too many emotions. After a while, he found himself staring at the ball again. He rolled it over, inspecting it. No screws. No seams. No sign that it was actually a deadly explosive.

Suddenly, a second hit it out of his hand then stabbed into the ground at the base of the sign, exploding a moment later, only for Robin to swing to safety. As he swung, he looked up, seeing Psycho Tech, now wearing an all-pink suit, on one of the rooftops. He landed behind him, hurling a birdrang just as Psycho Tech began to fly away. However, the birdrang hit the jet back which shorted out after a moment, dropping Psycho Tech onto a roof below Robin's. Robin leapt down at him, throwing a punch. It connected with Psycho Tech's jaw before Robin grabbed Psycho Tech's arms, bending them at odd angles, forcing Psycho Tech to press down against the roof.

"I want answers," Robin growled. "Real ones."

Suddenly, Psycho Tech changed. His head turning around, arms reversing themselves and jetpack sinking into what was now his chest. Then, Psycho Tech's legs wrapped around Robin's chest, hurling him before Psycho Tech flipped to his feet, readying himself for a fight. Robin gave him exactly that. He attacked Psycho Tech rapidly, but after a moment, Psycho Tech slipped past him, grabbing his cape and yanking him back then throwing a kick. Robin caught it against his chest and Psycho Tech spun, ankle twisting around with a strange, wet popping sucking sound before Psycho Tech's other foot crashed into Robin's jaw, throwing him away. Robin wiped something wet on the side of his face and stared at the pink ink there.

"Beast Boy's right," Robin muttered. "He is using too much dye."

He looked up at Psycho Tech, who was running away, and chased after him. Then, Psycho Tech flipped, slipping into a small gap in a neon sign's support. Robin growled in annoyance. Psycho Tech began to back flip through the supports and Robin sprinted along in front of the sign, looking sideways, tracking Psycho Tech's progress alongside himself. Robin glanced ahead, seeing a break in the sign and sped up, sprinting into the opening and tackling Psycho Tech. He slipped a pair of cuffs on Psycho Tech but Psycho Tech simply lifted his hands over his head and around in front of himself, his joints popping loudly.

"What are you?" Robin gaped just before Psycho Tech easily slipped his hands out of the cuffs, catching them on either end.

Robin charged and Psycho Tech drew a pair of balls that grew into a pair of short blades with a shorter second blade in front of them like a sharpened guard. Robin dropped, trying to trip Psycho Tech only for Psycho Tech to leap over him, one blade splitting the "R" on Robin's chest in half, breaking the crest but not damaging the uniform itself. Robin stood, drawing a pair of birdrangs like knives and charged, their weapons clashing loudly. Then, Psycho Tech spun, slamming a kick into Robin's abdomen then stepping past him. Robin ducked under a blade, which slashed his cape instead, then began to attack more violently. After a moment, a blade from his left birdrang spun away and the two of them began to include their feet, ink splattering off of Psycho Tech's uniform each time his and Robin's kicks met.

After another moment, Psycho Tech leapt over a kick, punching Robin then landing ahead of him as Robin staggered away. He slashed three times, splitting the front of Robin's uniform, the back of his left glove, and the right side of his mask at the top and bottom but not harming Robin at all or permanently damaging anything, as all of the rips were easy to sew back together. Psycho Tech began to flip away and Robin hurled an explosive disk, sending him spinning into the air only for Psycho tech to continue running as soon as he landed. Robin hurled more explosive disks, launching Psycho tech back at himself this time, and tackled him into a massive red neon sign. The sign broke free instantly, falling into the street below. It began to flash on and off, illuminating Robin and Psycho Tech in a bloody light as Robin slammed his fists into Psycho Tech again and again, oblivious to the people around him, watching him. Anger flooded him. Anger fueled by his frustration with his fight against Psycho Tech, and his allowing Starfire too close, and his knowledge that he had seriously hurt her when he said they couldn't be together. So still he slammed his fists into Psycho Tech, not noticing the gasps and staring of the civilians around him, or the ink collecting on his gloves and arms, turned as red as blood by the sign. Finally, he put his hands together, slamming them down on Psycho Tech's chest, the circle at the center of his chest shattering and Psycho tech fell still. Robin began to pant, the anger and energy draining out of him with the adrenaline and he stared down at Psycho Tech as he caught his breath.

He finally stood, looking to the side, for the first time noticing the shocked and horrified looks of the people around him. He stared down at his ink-covered hands realizing how it looked, just before a light snapped on, Robin noticing the small army of Tokyo Troopers standing before him, aiming at him, for the first time as well.

"I am sorry my young friend," Daizo said, stepping out of the troopers' ranks. "But you leave me no choice. I must place you under arrest."

Robin stared at him numbly, then at his hands as a pair of handcuffs were placed on him and he was led away.

* * *

Raven walked through the book store, reaching a counter before picking up a book. It was readable, thank God, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had. Suddenly, a hand touched her shoulder and she spun, holding her hands up, ready to fight, dark energy surrounding her hands, but it was simply a small elderly man.

"Welcome to my shop young lady," the man greeted. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

"I'm trying to find a book about Brushogan," Raven said. "But there's nothing in fiction or mythology."

"Well of course not my dear," the man said, turning and walking away, Raven following. "Although few people today believe it, Brushogan was no myth."

He picked up a book, turning toward her. She accepted the book and stared at the samurai depicted on the cover.

* * *

Beast Boy pushed the girls away yet again. He couldn't handle the smell of ink any more, and somehow, they all reeked of it. Finally he broke free and turned toward the exit only for a line of girls to suddenly dart over to block the door, holding their arms out. He sighed, walking forward and when they moved to tackle him again, he shifted into a fly and flew past them out the door before shifting back and running. He had had enough of crazed, ink-smelling fangirls. he sneezed. He really needed to get the ink out of his clothes. After several minutes, he crashed headlong into Cyborg.

"Who's chasing you?" both asked.

"Girls!" Beast Boy said.

"Chef!" Cyborg said at the exact same time before hie eye twitched and a grin spread over his face.

Then, several voice began shouting and they both sprinted down an alleyway, the mob of girls and a short chef with a big nose began to chase them.

"Where's Raven?" Cyborg asked.

"We couldn't stay near each other any longer without fighting," Beast Boy said.

"Titans, emergency!" Starfire's voice suddenly shouted over their communicators. "Cyborg, Beast Boy Raven, somebody please, answer me!"

"Starfire?" Raven's voice answered. "What's wrong?"

"Robin has been...arrested...for a terrible crime!" Starfire said.

Cyborg and Beast Boy ducked into a small shop stand on the side of the road.

"Girl are you crazy?" Cyborg asked. "Robin would never commit a..."

He stopped, he and Beast By staring at a stack of newspapers featuring a front page picture of Robin's mugshot, something that looked like blood in the black and white photo covering his hands and the side of his face.

"Whoa," Cyborg breathed.

"And he was telling us to stay out of trouble," Beast Boy said, picking up the newspaper then stopping. "Wait. How could..."

"Do we know where he is?" Raven asked.

"No," Starfire said. "I have tried to reach him but he does not respond."

"I'm transmitting rendezvous coordinates," Cyborg said. "Let's regroup and figure this out."

"Hurry please," Starfire said. "We need to help Robin!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy leapt out of the stall, running down the alleyway away from the direction the mob chasing them had gone and Cyborg began to try to call them again.

"Starfire, Raven!" Cyborg said, neither answering.

Then, suddenly, a massive pair of tongs grabbed Cyborg around the waist, lifting him into the air. Beast Boy skidded to a stop, staring back at the thing holding him. It was a massive yellow robot ball floating in the air with a pair of long tube arms, both of which had tongs for hands. And it, like everything else in the city, reeked of ink. It dropped Cyborg into its mouth then grinned down at Beast Boy just before Cyborg forced his way back out of its mouth, trying to flee only for the tongs to grab him again.

Beast Boy took a step forward only to stop, staring off at the side at the girl that had led him to the karaoke bar. Now that she wasn't running, he could tell she smelled as strongly of ink at the robot. He stared at it then at the girl. Then, he sighed.

"So she was right," Beast Boy said. "Oh she'll be so happy when she gets to say 'I told you so' over this. Guess only traitors and monsters are interested in me after all. And then only because I'm easy to manipulate. Well, let's see what you really at then, shall we?"

She spun, pink ink forming a tornado around her before falling away, leaving her as a pink human-cheetah hybrid complete with a tail, cheetah feet, and ears. She kept spinning, jumping and blasting a kick into his jaw, launching him into a soda machine, destroying it. Then, once she landed on her hands and feet, she meowed.

"Joy," Beast Boy grumbled, standing.

He took a breath then grit his teeth shifting into a guerrilla and charging. he swiped at her but she flipped over it, kicking him and launching him backward. He crashed down hard before flipping, transforming into a cheetah only to be launched away just as easily. Next he tried a T-Rex. He snapped at her but she flipped over him, kicking downward into the top of his snout and he crashed to the ground hard, shifting back and gritting his teeth as his burns flared. He sprinted forward, charging as a rhino, but she flipped over him. He flew at her as a pterodactyl and she landed on his back, speaking in Japanese, even though he didn't speak it. Then, she crossed her legs in front of his eyes before flipping off just before Beast Boy crashed into a neon sign and reverted to normal, falling to the ground twenty feet below, bouncing off the sign itself twice then landing hard.

"I hate this city," Beast Boy snarled.

Suddenly, the girl was beside him, kissing him on the cheek and speaking in Japanese again. Before she had even finished, she slashed at him with her claws but he shifted into guerrilla, catching her arm and hurling her into the robot Cyborg was fighting.

* * *

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven chanted, sending a cloud of debris at the ghost-like creature attacking her.

The debris passed through it harmlessly. She tried restraining it with her dark energy directly but its lower portion, something like a tail, swiped at her, Raven escaping but her cape being covered in something like black ink. Then, she flew to the side as it crashed down where she had been. It chased her as she flew through several tombstones to try to slow it down but after a moment, it shot out of the ground below her, catching her off guard. Then, it flew into the ground, slamming her down into it as it disappeared. Her book landed a short distance away from it and when she reached for it, the creature rose between her and it. Then, several faces grew out of its "body" and shot out at Raven.

* * *

Beast Boy kept one of his massive hands covering Cyborg's mouth as he carried him away from the two creatures searching for them. Once they were far enough away, he shifted back, grunting in pain and holding his burn, then sighing.

"Come on," Beast Boy said. "Raven's this way."

Cyborg nodded and they made their way through back alleys and side streets until they reached a park where Raven grew out of the ground, covered in black ink and breathing hard but unharmed and clutching a book in a death grip.

"Raven!" Cyborg called. "Glad you made it."

"It wasn't exactly easy," Raven said. "I had to fight a ghost."

"We weren't exactly taking a nice easy stroll here either," Beast Boy said, holding a hand over his blackening eye. "Come on. The rendezvous point is up ahead. Robin and Starfire are probably already there."

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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Brushogan

Beast Boy sighed as Raven finished healing his burn, finally. They had met up with the others at the rendezvous point, where Raven had explained that Brushogan was a former artist who had tried to bring a painting to life using Japanese Black Magic, only to be cursed and turned into a living ink monster. One that could bring life to anything he painted, such as Psycho Tech or the girl that had attacked, Beast Boy and the robot that attacked Cyborg. Then, the house had been invaded by the girl and robot, as well as a robot child that had apparently attacked Starfire, the crowd of girls that had been chasing Beast Boy, the chefs that had been after Cyborg, and an army of Tokyo Troopers. The Titans had all escaped, after a painfully long chase, and now were trying to decide where to start looking for Brushogan.

"There's something I don't understand," Beast Boy said. "If you got charged with murdering Psycho Tech earlier tonight, how did the stand already have a supply of newspapers with your mug shot on them?"

"You know, that's actually a really good point," Cyborg said. "I never even though of that."

"This was a trap all along," Robin said. "Whoever's behind it would have to have known about us, and have a reason to kill us."

"No," Beast Boy said. "They wouldn't. We showed up here because the first Psycho Tech told us where to find him. But the only reason for Psycho Tech attacking us could have been to test him. As for Brushogan, he would need a place to...oh."

"What?" Cyborg asked.

"He'd need a place to hide," Beast Boy said. "A place where he could create his paintings without anyone noticing, and without anyone thinking anything of it. And he'd need a way to ensure that they could be disposed of without anyone knowing what they were."

"Beast Boy's right," Robin said, thinking. "But then, Brushogan would have to have payed off at least-"

"Save your brain for a harder one, Robin," Beast Boy said. "I already figured it out."

"No offense Beast Boy," Robin said. "But you're not known for being even close."

"Dude," Beast Boy said flatly. "It's Commander Daizo. He's Brushogan. Every single member of the Tokyo Troopers is an ink creation, that's why they all smell like it. Daizo may not be the guy with the ink powers, but he has control over him, and keeps him hidden below the comic book factory."

"Yeah," Robin said. "Like I said. Why don't you leave figuring it out to the real detective, alright?"

"Actually, Beast Boy's theory makes sense," Raven said. "Create monsters to scare the criminals off the streets, then create soldiers to fight the monsters. Once the monsters have been dealt with, keep your army in the streets to keep criminals from wanting to risk committing crime."

"You know what, fine," Robin sighed. "We'll humor you. You guys want to go to the comic book store, fine. We'll go to the comic book store."

He turned, walking away and the other followed silently. Beast Boy glanced at Raven, trying to guess why she would agree with him. He knew he was right, but he was expecting everyone to treat him like he didn't know what he was talking about. It was nice to have Raven on his side. Though, he knew it wouldn't last. Finally they reached the comic book store and Robin tested the door. Locked, of course.

"You have a key?" Robin asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Beast Boy nodded, walking forward then breaking into a run, transforming into an ox and crashing through the door, Robin shouting in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Robin hissed. "The guards will..."

"There are no guards," Beast Boy said, walking calmly through the completely empty entryway where there should be shelves upon shelves of comics.

He stopped as ragged breathing reached their ears. They all silently rushed through the next door, only to find themselves in a massive open room with a massive printing press in the center but no sign of anyone. They silently made their way into the room, Cyborg illuminating a spot in front of them with his shoulder-mounted flashlight, until they reached a set of steps leading up to an empty chair and several monitors.

"Brushogan," Robin said. "He's not here."

Suddenly, someone sucked in a hoarse gasp of breath as the printing press to their left began to open, steam rolling out of it before clearing, revealing an emaciated man with no hair left in his head and several tubes connecting his back to the machine.

"I am," the man rasped.

"Brushogan?" Robin asked.

"So glad to finally meet you," Brushogan said.

"You're not the one behind all this are you?" Robin asked. "You just-"

"His...slave," Brushogan finished. "He trapped me in this thing. This cursed printing press that uses my powers against my will. The criminals I create serve him now."

"But you sent the card, didn't you?" Robin asked. "You set me free. And you sent Psycho Tech to our tower because-"

"It was the only way I could call for help," Brushogan said. "I knew that if one of my creations attacked your home..."

"It would give us a reason to come to Tokyo, a reason to find you," Robin said.

"So you weren't the one who framed Robin," Cyborg said.

"Psycho Tech was printed twice," Brushogan said. "I sent the first to you as a messenger. _He_ sent the second to Robin, as a trap."

"He who?" Starfire asked.

"I already told you who," Beast Boy said. "Commander Daizo."

"What about me?" Daizo asked, walking into the room.

"Daizo," Robin said. "Perfect timing. Meet Brushogan."

Daizo stared at him in silence before looking back at Robin.

"He's being held prisoner, someone's been using his powers to send ink criminals after us, and used Psycho Tech to frame me," Robin explained. "I'm really sorry about everything so far, and for Beast Boy. For some reason he's got it in his head that you're behind all of this. Would you mind explaining that you're innocent to him for me?"

"I see," Daizo said, staring at Beast Boy before smiling. "I really must give credit where it is due. You truly are quite the skilled detective, Beast Boy. Perhaps even better than Robin at times. Yes, I have been using Brushogan to create criminals and monsters. It keeps the true criminals off of the streets, especially when my Tokyo Troopers, specially printed to defeat any foe I have printed for them, are all over the news. Criminals are simply too afraid of both sides to come out of their holes. And I get to be famous, as the hero who keeps Tokyo clean."

"Called it," Beast Boy said.

"Told you," Raven added.

"Shut up," Robin grumbled. "We're going to stop you, Daizo."

"I think not," Daizo said. "You see, you haven't caught me. I've caught you."

He snapped his fingers and suddenly the Tokyo Troopers were surrounding them, all aiming at them.

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted, everyone except Beast Boy charging.

"What a shame," Beast Boy smirked, several blasts hitting the ground around him. "You made a mistake."

"And what's that?" Daizo asked.

"You're using fakes as troops," Beast Boy said.

Then, suddenly, he was a guerrilla, charging into the ranks of the troopers, fist hitting so hard that the troopers were bursting into ink on impact. A trooper opened fire at his back but he transformed into a house fly, getting above it and becoming a whale, crashing down on several, ink splattering out from under him. Then, he was a cheetah, shooting along the ground to another group before becoming a triceratops, plowing through them and impaling two. The other titans saw what was happening and also grinned, all stopping holding back, obliterating any troopers they fought. However, Daizo pressed a button on his control panel and Brushogan shouted in pain as the printing press whirred to life, ink beginning to form onto a large sheet of paper. Robin leapt at Daizo, swinging his bo staff only for a pair of Psycho Techs to block the staff. Robin flipped backward, landing at the foot of the stairs as several of each of the enemies they had fought appeared around them.

"Oh great, her again," Beast Boy growled as one of the three cat girls winked at him. "Can we end this quickly?"

"Sure," Cyborg said. "Feel free."

The three girls leapt at Beast Boy and he became a fly, shooting past them then up into the air before becoming a whale, crashing down on them, killing all three. He changed back and looked back as Raven formed a barrier, blocking one of the ghost things that were after her. Then, one of the small blue robot children fired several rockets at her. She avoided them just before an octopus tentacle wrapped around the child and swung it around, smashing it down into another. Then, Cyborg caught one of his yellow robot enemies by the arm and spun, smashing all of the remaining enemies with it, save for one other robot, and let go, all of them crashing into the wall and splattering into ink as Robin drove his staff into the other's head, killing it as well. Beast Boy changed back to normal, sniffing and finding Daizo sprinting along a catwalk up above instantly. He changed into a falcon, flying up to the catwalk and changing back, landing in front of him as Robin landed behind him.

"It's over Commander," Robin said.

"This changes nothing," Daizo said. "You can take me down, destroy me if you wish. But it changes nothing. Out there, everyone will still think you are a criminal, and Tokyo will still call me a hero."

"You're no hero," Beast Boy said.

Daizo laughed once then leapt over the railing, falling into an opening in the printing press. Instantly, electricity began to fly along the printing press and Brushogan began to scream in pain. Massive pipes burst out of the ground, ink flooding out of them before they shot out, attaching to the walls. Brushogan's scream died down to a gurgling moan as ink began to bubble out of his mouth. Beast Boy's hair stood on end and he smelled smoke, instantly leaping off the railing and landing in front of Raven, wrapping his arms around her and standing between her and the printing press. Less than a second later, it exploded, hurling all of them out of the building. They crashed down in the courtyard in front of it, Beast Boy losing his hold on Raven who bounced away, then pushed themselves up, staring at the building as it exploded. Then, a pair of massive hands made of ink reached out, followed by a massive body with black ink covering every inch except the eyes and inside the mouth, which were both red. Pipes were exposed on its shoulders and the right side of its chest and in the center of its chest was Brushogan.

"The power is mine!" Daizo exclaimed.

Beast Boy sneezed as the smell of ink reached his nose and he plugged it, backing away.

"That's a lot of ink," Beast Boy grumbled.

"Gonna be one heck of a stain when this is over," Cyborg said.

"He may have Brushogan's magic but I don't know how long he can control it," Raven said.

Daizo held out a hand, blobs of ink falling to the ground and then growing into everything he had created so far except Godzilla. Except, each one was a mash-up of all of the others' colors.

"What must we do?" Starfire asked.

"Erase him," Robin growled.

Daizo shouted in anger, swiping at them. They scattered and his hand crashed down where they had been, shattering the ground. They all charged into the various groups of enemies, Beast Boy and Cyborg having the most luck, both tearing their opponents apart. As they did, Starfire flew overhead with several enemies chasing her. However, as she passed Daizo, he held his hand out, several pipes shooting out like tentacles, one grabbing her and slamming her into the ground, then picking her up and slamming her down again. It released her, pulling back and sharpening only for Raven to step in the way, forming a shield over them, the pipe melting into grey ink as it hit the shield. She shoved her hands toward the pipe and small burst of dark energy severed the pipe in a dozen places, the segments falling to the ground and beginning to melt. As they did, Robin sprinted up another pipe, fighting his way through a dozen enemies on the way then leapt to Brushogan, stabbing his pole in, trying to rip Brushogan out only to be swallowed up himself. A half second later, Beast Boy heard Raven scream as a pipe wrapped around her, beginning to crush her. His head snapped around just before one of the cat girls kicked him square in the teeth, throwing him. He flipped, crashing down hard before growling in rage.

"Get your hands off of her," Beast Boy snarled.

Then, he roared, he sound deafening and much, much deeper than it should be. It vibrated as it rang through the air. Then, just as it stopped, Beast Boy's body exploded outward, a massive pair of wings bursting out of his back, a tail following. His neck shot upward, flexing and bending as horns sprouted from his head, his face elongating and fangs sprouting from his gums. His fingers and toes grew into claws and his skin grew into scales. Everyone stared in shock as Beast Boy let loose an even louder roar, this one accompanied by a jet of flame that surged across the ground, melting all of Daizo's minions instantly. Then, he looked up at Raven.

"Malchior!" Raven gasped before her brain made sense of what she was seeing. "Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy roared, leaping into the air and streaking past the pipe holding Raven, claws slashing it before his tail caught her, lifting her up to the base of his horns where she grabbed onto the horns and sat down. Then, Beast Boy slashed the pipes holding Starfire as well, freeing her before flying around Daizo, unleashing a stream of flames onto him, melting any pipes or ink blobs he unleashed, also melting layers of ink off of him rapidly. After several seconds, Beast Boy stopped to take a breath and Daizo froze, staring at his chest just as Robin burst out of it, pulling Brushogan with him. Once free, both began to fall and Beast Boy caught them, dropping them off on the ground then landing, lowering his head so Raven could climb off before shrinking back to normal, panting and barely standing but with no less determination in his eyes than ever. He looked up at Daizo but just as he did, the rest of the ink covering Daizo began to fall away.

"You...saved me," Brushogan smiled before fading from existence.

They all turned to Daizo just as he swelled up then burst, ink flooding the area. Beast Boy squeezed his eyes closed, covering his nose, but the only thing to hit him was the smell. He opened his eyes, seeing Raven shielding both him and herself from the ink, which surrounded them completely. Once it was done moving, she used her powers to clear the area around them, looking around to see Robin and Cyborg standing, brushing themselves free of dried clumps of ink. They looked around but couldn't see Starfire.

After several seconds, her hand reached up out of a massive pile of dried ink and Robin sprinted over. Robin gently lifted her out of the ink, calling out to her. Starfire stirred slowly before smiling up at him as he wiped some ink off of her cheek.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked.

"I am now," Starfire smiled.

Just then, thunder clapped, lightning arcing across the sky before rain began to fall, washing all of the ink on them and in the courtyard away, revealing Daizo's unconscious form. Robin glanced at Starfire and felt guilt flood him. It was probably too late, but maybe he could at least salvage something.

"I think I was wrong before," Robin said.

"You do?" Starfire asked.

"Maybe...a hero isn't all that I am," Robin said, trying to find the right words, struggling due to never having learned to say how he felt. "Maybe I could be...maybe _we_ could be-"

"Robin?" Starfire asked, making him stop and look at her.

"Starfire?" Robin asked.

"Stop talking," Starfire said before kissing him.

Beast Boy smirked for a moment before he felt a pang of jealousy and hurt flash through him, followed by a wave of guilt. It figured. Here he was witnessing the miracle of the world's most blind super-detective finally figuring out that the girl he was in love with loved him back, and instead of feeling happy for him like he should, all he could feel was jealous that Robin was able to have a relationship like that. Beast Boy turned, starting to walk away. He heard Raven turn toward him, smelled her hand reaching for him, and transformed into a water-skimmer, sliding away across the thin film of water now covering the ground.

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	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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Final Straw

Beast boy lay on his bare bed, holding the medal over his head and letting it spin slowly. A medal. An award. An actual acknowledgment that he had done something as a hero. It was the first time he had been awarded anything. It had his name engraved into it, as did the others' medals, and was on a red and white ribbon. He smiled for a moment before the smile faded and he stared at his now empty backpack. His only other uniform had been hopelessly ruined by the ink, so he now had only the pack and the clothes on his back to leave with. Except, he wasn't sure he was going to leave anymore. he wasn't really sure where he stood with Raven now. Now that he was healed.

He sighed, tossing the medal onto his nightstand and stood, walking out of his room, closing the door behind himself and walking out into the common room, finding the rest of them already present, Robin and Starfire lying together on the couch, watching the TV, Raven reading a book, and Cyborg tinkering with his arm, for whatever reason. As Beast Boy walked toward the only open seat, Raven glanced at him over her book.

"Why a dragon?" Raven asked.

"What?" Beast Boy asked.

"What are you deaf now as well as stupid?" Raven said flatly. "Why did you turn into a dragon?"

"I needed something that could fly and attack at the same time," Beast Boy said. "It just seemed...natural, I guess."

"I never asked for your help," Raven said, the others all sighing nearly imperceptibly, all knowing what was coming next.

"And I didn't offer," Beast Boy said. "You got caught and I reacted. I'm not going to apologize for helping you, but don't worry, you don't have to thank me. I know how much that would hurt you."

"That's good," Raven said. "Because I wasn't planning on thanking you for doing something that was stupid, reckless, and completely pointless. Even if you hadn't done it, the fight would have ended the exact same way when Robin pulled Brushogan out."

"Raven, there's no way anyone could have known..." Robin began but neither was listening.

"You're right," Beast Boy said. "The next time you get caught I'll just let them keep you."

"Better than being stuck around you," Raven said. "At least the criminal can do something right."

Beast Boy clamped his mouth shut, his gut clenching and his chest throbbing painfully.

"Well, I suppose you'll be glad to know you owe me an 'I told you so' then huh?" Beast Boy asked. "That girl actually _did_ turn out to be a trap after all."

"I know," Raven said. "I told you so before you left. Though it was nice to finally get free of you for a while. I really needed some time off from babysitting duty."

"Well I'm sorry I'm such a hinderance to you," Beast Boy said.

"Oh not just me," Raven snorted humorlessly. "That entire fight with Slade could have been avoided without you letting Terra know all of our 're so easy to manipulate it's almost comical."

Beast Boy stared at her in shock. There's no way she had just said that as pleasantly calm as she had. The others all stared at her as well.

"What?" Beast Boy finally managed to choke out.

"You heard me," Raven said. "You're useless. You're the weakest link. Terra targeted you because she knew she would barely have to lift a finger in order to manipulate you into giving up whatever information she wanted. Because you're so desperate for a female to give you a compliment that you fall head over heels for any girl who smiles at you. It's a wonder the team's survived this long with you on it."

"Raven!" Robin snapped, sitting up.

"What's your problem?" Beast Boy demanded, incredulously. "Do you really hate me so much?"

"YES! ! !" Raven exploded, Beast Boy's eyes widening as he staggered backward a step. "YOU DO NOTHING BUT GET YOURSELF HURT AND MAKE _ME_ HEAL YOU, AS IF I DON'T HAVE MY OWN PROBLEMS! ! ! THE FEW TIMES YOU ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING RIGHT YOU FOLLOW IT UP WITH THOSE STUPID JOKES OF YOURS, AND THEN YOU FUCK UP AGAIN RIGHT AFTER ANYWAY! ! ! YOU HOLD THIS TEAM BACK BY MILES, YOU CAN BARELY KEEP UP WHEN WE GO TO FIGHT A VILLAIN, YOU BARELY CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING WORTH WHILE TO OUR TEAMWORK, AND YOU ARE CONSTANTLY RELYING ON THE REST OF US TO CLEAN UP YOUR MESSES! ! ! I'VE HAD IT! ! ! YOU'RE A FUCKING IDIOT! ! ! YOU WANTED SOMETHING THAT CAN FIGHT AND FLY AT THE SAME TIME! ? ! TRY A HIPPOGRIFF, OR A GRIFFIN, OR A PHOENIX! ! ! BUT _NO_! ! ! YOUR DUMB ASS THOUGHT IT WOULD BE JUST GREAT TO TURN INTO _MALCHIOR_! ! ! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! ! ! I HATE YOU! ! ! I HATE YOUR JOKES, I HATE YOUR FREAKY GREEN SKIN, I HATE YOUR ONE RETARDED FANG, I HATE YOUR STUPID POINTY EARS, I HATE YOUR OVERLY-HAPPY PERSONALITY, I HATE THE WAY YOU THINK YOU'RE SOME GIFT TO HUMANITY WHEN IN TRUTH YOU'RE BARELY EVEN HUMAN! ! ! I HATE YOU! ! ! JUST GET OUT OF MY LIFE! ! ! AND STAY GONE! ! !"

Beast Boy stared at her with a blank expression before turning and walking back out of the common room. He thought he did pretty well at holding it in. He actually made it to his bed before having to transform into a fly to silence himself. He let himself cry as soon as he had transformed. He was a fool. He was a fool for thinking anyone would ever truly accept him for what he was, he was a fool for ever thinking he and Raven could be friends, and he was a fool for ever thinking that maybe there was a ghost of a chance of them being anything more than friends. After several minutes, he shifted back, lying on his side, curling into the fetal position and weeping silently into his knees. He had finally gotten Raven to tell him the truth, and in mere moments she had crushed everything he ever once thought he knew. They weren't friends. They weren't family. They certainly weren't more than friends. He wasn't even accepted. He was tolerated. Barely. He stared at the backpack, then the medal, then the window. She wanted him out of her life, then fine. She'd get what she wanted.

Several hours passed as Beast Boy waited for night to fall, waited for everyone to be asleep. As he waited, he found his pain shrinking, taking the rest of his feelings with it until all he felt was numb. He finally stood from his bed sometime around two in the morning and picked up the backpack, turning and hurling it out the window. He didn't need it anyway, and didn't want anyone to see it. It was proof that he had been planning to leave. If they knew that, the others would see that they may have been able to stop it. They'd feel guilty. He spared on last glance at the medal and wrinkled his nose in distain. Hero. What a joke. Heroes were the guys who actually did something useful.

He turned back to the window, stepping forward only to freeze, feeling the numb feeling in his body intensify in his chest, not hurting but making him feel cold, and like he might start crying. It was harder to breathe than it should be, and he doubted if he could speak properly. But still she stood by the door in silence.

"What?" he finally asked, emotion thick in his voice. "What do you want? Did you come to scream at me one last time? Tell me all the ways I've failed the team? Remind me again how badly I fucked up by believing there could ever be someone who loves me the same way I do them? What? What could you possibly have to say to me now?"

"Please..." Raven's whisper said, trembling and making his body threaten to go physically numb.

She was crying. He could smell the tears. He could hear it in her voice. In her shuttering, ragged breathing.

"Please what?" Beast Boy asked. "Please hurry up? Don't worry, I'm gone."

"Please don't go," Raven choked out before a sob followed.

His body slumped forward, his head pressing against the wall, tears rolling down his own cheeks. He had to leave. He couldn't take being around her anymore. He couldn't. He couldn't handle the fighting, or the constant pain of her words, which cut so much deeper than any physical pain he had ever been subjected to, deeper than the scientists ever did when he first gained his powers and was experimented on for years.

"Why?" Beast Boy choked out.

"Because I hate you," Raven sobbed. "I hate you so much! Please don't leave me!"

"What, you don't want to lose your own personal punching bag?" Beast Boy growled, turning to her, regretting it instantly as he spotted the heartbroken look on her face, her hood finally down for the first time in days.

"No!" Raven sobbed. "I can't lose you!"

"Why?" Beast Boy demanded. "What the hell do you want from me Raven? First you say you hate me then suddenly you can't lose me? Which is it?"

"Both!" Raven sobbed. "Neither! I...I need you!"

Beast Boy simply stared at her as she wrapped her arms around herself, sobbing hard. He wanted so badly to hug her, to comfort her and promise to never leave her. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't stay, even if it _was_ taking all of his will power to stay away.

"I...I hated you for...for so long!" Raven sobbed. "I hated you...because I thought I wanted to be alone! Because you wouldn't let me! But you were always there, always smiling! Always happy! And when I was around you, I wanted to be alone less and less! I wanted to be around you! I wanted to be able to be happy like you! I wanted to be with you so badly! But the more I was the less control I had over my emotions! When you got hurt...I snapped! I lost all control! I couldn't even heal you because I couldn't control my emotions! It took me days to get control back! But then...I would see you injured when I was healing you and...I'd start to lose it again! And I could sense how hurt you were by me avoiding you, and by my anger getting the better of me! And I knew I had to get you to stay away from me! So I acted like I hated you! I forced myself to hurt you, even though it tore me apart every time! But...when I realized you were actually going to leave...I snapped! I couldn't handle the thought of losing you! I can't lose you! I need you Garfield! I can't live without you! Please! Stay!"

Beast Boy turned away from her, holding a hand to his chest, wishing with all his might that he couldn't feel his broken heart. And that it wouldn't break even more with the only answer he could allow himself to give.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before," Beast Boy said, voice strained as his own heart shattered, Raven instantly wailing in grief.

His body fought to turn to her, to comfort her and make everything alright. But instead, he shifted into a Raven, crying out once, a single mournful sob, then flew out the window, leaving his life, and everything he loved behind. And as he flew, his heart broke a little more with each beat of his wings, each inch he flew, each centimeter, shattering with each wail of the half-demoness whose heart he had wished for for so long, only to break once he realized he had it.

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	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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Broken

Beast Boy stared out at the car as it passed. The light was too bright, but he didn't bother to squint. He didn't have the will. Every movement seemed slow and difficult. It had been that way for the last three days since he had left. Since he had hurt...

Beast Boy tugged the scarf up higher around his face, running a gloved hand through his golden blonde hair. It was amazing what some clothes, makeup and hair dye could do. He hated the smell, but he finally looked normal. He stepped out of the trees, walking down the road until he reached the stream, staring down at his reflection. Dark grey scarf around his neck, black sweatshirt with the hood down and zipped only halfway up, purple shirt, jeans, vans. Oh how he hated vans. And jeans. And sweatshirts. He stared at his pale face and golden blonde hair. He didn't even recognize himself anymore.

A truck honked and Beast Boy stepped forward, perching lightly on the edge of the bridge as the truck sped past. Then, he stepped back, taking one more long look at his reflection before shifting into a falcon, catching up with the trailer and landing on its top, shifting back and adjusting his scarf to cover his face and ears again. He sat in silence as the truck sped into town. Then, when it pulled to a stop at a gas station, he dropped tot he ground, fixing his scarf and walking away, hands in his pockets.

"Hey kid!" the driver yelled. "What the hell's your problem!? You can't sit on a truck when it's driving! Hey! Are you fucking listening to me?"

The driver grabbed Beast Boy by the front of his shirt, lifting him, and Beast Boy stared at the man blankly. The man blinked, seeing the complete lack of emotion in Beast Boy's face and set him back on his feet.

"Just...stay off of vehicles kid," the man said.

He turned, walking away and Beast Boy fixed his shirt and scarf, walking away again. He walked in silence for a ways before stopping outside of a small diner as his stomach growled. He held a hand to it but then continued walking. After buying the clothes, makeup, and hair dye, he didn't have any money left. He reached an electronics store, looking at the screen to see footage of the Teen Titans delivering Cinderblock to prison for the millionth time, Aqualad taking a moment afterward to loop an arm around Raven's waist. Beast Boy bit back a growl, turning away, not seeing Raven send Aqualad flying into the side of a building.

"Three days," Beast Boy mumbled. "I guess you didn't need me as much as you thought, did you Raven?"

He walked away from the TV, making his way down the street. He heard a scuffle from an alleyway, smelled blood, but he kept walking. He wasn't a hero. Not anymore. He wouldn't help anyway. He'd just make it worse. He made everything worse. As he walked away, a gunshot rang out and he cringed before quickening his pace, getting around a corner before the crowd began to gather. He felt his chest grow cold, but the emotions never reached his face. They faded within seconds.

 _Guess I really am broken,_ Beast Boy thought.

He finally stopped staring at the restaurant before him and a ways down the road. Nothing fancy, just with an outdoor dining area, the aroma of food reaching him even from that distance. And it was Italian. Almost everything on the menu had a vegetarian option. His stomach rumbled loudly and he sighed, holding a hand to it before turning and walking down a side street. After a bit, he turned into an alleyway and stopped as a man with a jean jacket with the sleeves ripped off, clearly defined muscles, black jeans, and a lead pipe in his hands. Beast Boy turned to walk away only to find a more lean man with a similar outfit but a long-sleeved black shirt under it. If he had been in any other mind set than he was, he might have made a joke about them being stereotypes.

"Hand over whatever you got kid," the skinny one said, drawing a pistol. "We don't want this to have to get messy."

"You're making a really bad mistake," Beast Boy said. "You should walk away now."

"And we would love to," the strong one said. "So hand over your valuables and we'll be on our way."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Beast Boy sighed.

Then, he was a black mamba snake, lunging at the criminal with the gun, biting his shoulder before recoiling, becoming a goat facing the other way and ramming the other in the gut, throwing him backward. As soon as he landed, Beast Boy bit him too, once again as a snake, then returned to normal, picking up the gun and firing into the air, then dropping it and becoming a fly, escaping over the roof just as people began to gather. He landed on the street, beginning to walk again as, once again, Raven filled his thoughts.

He stopped in another alleyway, this one empty, and slid to the ground, sitting against the wall, head in his hands. He sniffed, and could smell her. Or, at least, he could remember the way she smelled. The way she sounded. He felt the usual cold numbness in his chest, and it began to spread. Finally he felt tears roll down his cheeks and wiped them away. He stood, walking back into the street and looking around. Comic book store.

His mind flashed to Tokyo and his shoulders slumped. Still, he walked across the street and into the door. He started down the rows, eyes roving over all of the comic series that used to hold such joy for him, now all meaningless colors on cheap paper. Then, after another few aisles, he stopped, staring at one of the comics.

"Teen Titans" reached across the top of the page and below it was a pretty impressive illustration of all of them. All five. Cyborg, Starfire, Robin, Beast Boy...Raven. Beast Boy picked the book up before sinking to his knees, tears rolling down his cheeks quickly, leaving streaks of green in their wake, but he didn't care. He hugged the magazine, the picture of the love of his life, to his chest, bending forward and setting his forehead against the floor, silently shaking with sobs. The store was mostly empty, fortunately. After a few minutes, a voice finally spoke.

"Hey there cutie, why you cryin'?" a sweet overly cheerful voice asked.

He could smell the glue, and burnt hair of a wig. So it had to be a store employee in a costume. And judging by the waves of kindness radiating off of them, and their voice, it had to be a Starfire. He sat up, staring at the employee with his mouth hanging open. Not even close. And not even a little bit okay.

"Would it make you feel better to see my spell book?" the girl dressed as Raven asked, winking. "It's got over three hundred black magic spells."

Before Beast Boy had even processed what he was seeing or hearing, rage was boiling over from within him. He was on his feet in an instant.

"What the hell's wrong with you!?" Beast Boy demanded. "Is that supposed to be funny? Huh? Do you think you're being cute? There are so many things wrong with your shitty costume and act that I might throw up! Raven doesn't use black magic! She just has a dark aura! She certainly doesn't wink, or smile, or sound like she's suppressing a giggle! She sounds bored! All the time! Even in a fight against her father! And what the hell do you think you're wearing!?"

The costume itself was almost as atrocious as her act. The girl's "cape" was the size of a bib on her back with a tiny decorative hood, her wig was purple and black streaks with blue roots and hung to her shoulders, and the leotard she wore was cut halfway down her breasts and then a third of the way down her legs with a piece of rope and a single painted red quarter for a belt.

"What's wrong with it?" the girl asked.

"Everything!" Beast Boy spat before gritting his teeth and rubbing the corner of his eyes, fighting his anger back down.

When he pulled his hand away, his makeup came with it, exposing more green, this time unmissable. The girl gasped before reaching up quickly and pushing his scarf down off of his ears.

"I knew it!" the girl gasped. "You're him!"

"No I'm not!" Beast Boy snapped, pulling his scarf back up and turning away. "Not anymore. There is no more Beast Boy. He's dead."

"But, I thought you and Raven loved each other. You can't just turn your back on her."

"Don't believe what you read in comics," Beast Boy said. "Me and Raven...There was never going to be anything."

He walked away, first heading into the bathroom to put more makeup on, hiding his green skin, then walking out to find the horrible excuse for a Raven copy waiting with the magazine Beast Boy had left on the floor.

"Here," she said. "I think you should read it. And I want you to have it anyway. It's a gift, for all of your years as a hero."

"I was never a hero," Beast Boy said, accepting the comic anyway. "I was just the comic relief."

With that, he walked out of the shop, leaving the confused employee behind. He walked out of town and to a small hill, opening the comic and smiling as the first page started with a frame of Beast Boy getting hit by Raven. He read through the comic slowly, stopping to stare at any and every picture that had Raven in it. The comic depicted the team fighting Slade and Cinderblock. For the beginning of the fight, things progressed about how Beast Boy would expect. The Teen Titans got their butts handed to them. But then, Cinderblock moved to finish off Raven and the Beast Boy of the comic transformed into something with the body of a lion and the heads of a dozen different animals, along with a dragon's tail and head. Then, he attacked Cinderblock and tore him apart in an instant. Or, at least, in three frames. Once cinderblock was out of the way, Slade used a surprise attack to put a sword through Beast Boy's obviously supernatural heart and Beast Boy changed back. Then, Slade was promptly ripped into pieces by Raven's pure rage before she began to heal him. However, as Beast Boy followed the frames, he saw Raven's powers fail after his heart was mended but before it began to beat again, the stab wound still present but not as bad. So, Raven resorted to CPR. Finally the Robin of the book pulled her off of him only for the comic's Beast Boy to begin breathing again and Cyborg instantly hook him up to a life support system.

Beast Boy lowered the comic, staring into space. He almost didn't want to know how it ended. But he had to now. He picked it up, scanning through the rest. Beast Boy recovering comatose in the Titans Tower. Raven professing her guilt in his not being fully healed and apologizing. Raven professing her undying love for him. Beast Boy waking up, and then, there, in the last frame, they kissed. Beast Boy stared at it, feeling his eyes sting with tears yet again. He blinked them away, closing the book and preparing to shred it. Something stopped him, and he sighed, standing and walking back into town. He didn't know why he was returning, he simply was. He was passing the electronics store again when he froze, comic falling from his hand at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Beast Boy, if you're hearing this, and I'm sure you are, then we need your help," Robin's voice said. "I'm sorry about what happened. About everything that happened. You were right in Tokyo and I treated you like you were an idiot. I'm sorry. I know you're angry with Raven. Almost as angry as I'm sure you are at myself and Starfire for hiding the truth from you..."

Beast Boy's mouth dropped open. He knew. That entire time, he had known what Raven was doing, how she felt, and he did nothing? Starfire too?

"...but, we desperately need your help," Robin continued. "Raven is in trouble. She was meditating using that tool you and Cyborg aren't allowed to touch and when we went looking for her, it was broken."

Beast Boy's blood ran cold. There was no way. The mirror couldn't be broken. If it was, she was trapped.

"You're the only one who can save her, Beast Boy," Robin said. "Please, hurry."

Then, the signal cut out to a stunned news reporter.

"Uh...I'm not...sure what that was folks..." the reporter said. "I think we were just hacked by none other than Robin the Boy Wonder. And with a dire message for Beast Boy, no less. I'm not sure what exactly he meant, or what's going on, but if it'll help, this station will continue to replay the message."

Beast Boy leapt into the air, scarf and sweatshirt falling away before he was a spiral of green and suddenly was shooting through the air as a Peregrine Falcon, shooting through the air back toward the place he belonged. Toward the place he swore he would never return. Three days. So much had changed in three days. But maybe not as much as he thought.

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

Saving You

Beast Boy landed on the room of Titans Tower at a sprint, throwing the door open and charging down the stairs before bursting into the common room. The others spun toward him, eyes wide before relief flooded them all. Then, a hand landed on Beast Boy's shoulder and Beast Boy spun, catching the arm and slamming Aqualad into the floor, holding his arm rigid and with a wrist lock, pain shining brightly in Aqualad's face.

"Hands off," Beast Boy snarled.

"Beast Boy!" Robin snapped.

Beast Boy eased up, stepping away from Aqualad, who stood, rolling his shoulder then massaging his wrist.

"Sorry," Aqualad said. "I won't touch you again."

"I wasn't talking about myself," Beast Boy growled. "Where's the mirror?"

"We didn't dare move the pieces," Robin said. "It's in her room."

Beast Boy nodded and said, "I'm going to need one explosive disk."

"For what?" Robin asked.

"Just in case," Beast Boy said.

Robin tossed him one and Beast Boy caught it, walking to Raven's room and opening the door, walking in without hesitation. First time for everything he supposed. He stared at the utterly shattered mirror in shock. He could smell the black magic radiating from it. It definitely wasn't an accident, but it also wasn't Aqualad, as part of him had both suspected and slightly hoped. He knelt, examining the pieces. He closed his eyes, sniffing. He could sort of smell magic, in a sense. And at the moment, what he smelled was that all but one piece were now powerless. There was no telling if he could get back out or not, but he knew he had to go in. He picked up the piece, praying it would suck him in like last time, but no such luck.

"Alright Rae," Beast Boy said, setting the piece on the desk. "Show me something."

He began to scan the various books filling her room before finding one about the mirror. He pulled it out and a piece of paper fell from it. It picked up the paper and grinned.

"If anything happens while I'm in the mirror, follow these instructions to come after me."

Beast Boy grinned and set the paper on the bed, quickly rifling through the ingrediants the paper listed, grateful Raven had labelled the bottles, hopefully correctly. Once he had everything, he looked at the diagram of what went where and how to draw the spell circle. Then, he followed the instructions. Finally, he set the mirror shard in the center and sat down with the paper, beginning to read the incantation, which was also, thank god, was written phonetically. He read through the spell and a pitch black aura appeared around the now floating mirror shard before a massive hand shot out, grabbing him and yanking him into the mirror, Beast Boy not struggling at all.

The moment Beast Boy was free of the swirling tunnel-style portal, he shifted into a raven, hovering and looking around. The realm was the same as it had been before, with one difference. The pieces of Raven representing her different personality types were lying scattered across the massive flat chunk of land below him. He flew down, landing beside the one in pink, Happy, if Beast Boy remembered correctly. He shifted back to normal and felt for a pulse but found nothing. His heart dropped. This was his doing. It had to be. He had killed Happy. He stood, looking around and counting the emotions. Happy, Knowledge, Bravery, Sloth, and Rude. His brow furrowed. Sloth and Rude wouldn't make sense if this was the result of his breaking her heart.

Then, the ground shook. He spun around as massive chunks of stone began to slam together, forming a massive stone statue that bellowed in rage, four glowing red eyes adorning its face. Trigon. That would explain a lot. Beast Boy crouched, growling in rage as the comic flashed to mind. Then, he began to grow, roaring ferally as his body changed. Then, his voice separated into a dozen roars before he was suddenly the same creature as in the book.

The statue charged and Beast Boy did the same, racing along the ground before suddenly the ram head's horns grew to a massive size and crashed into the statue, launching it away. Beast Boy continued charging, claws extending, gouging the ground as he ran before he slashed the statue on the way past. Then, as the tail passed, the end of it grew into a spiked morning star and it swung to the side, smashing the statue's head. Beast Boy slowed to a stop, grinning, before the debris from the statue's body formed a pathway to a higher platform. Beast Boy glanced at the emotions on the floor then raced along the pathway, shooting upward until he reached the platform and skidded to a stop. Before him was a scene he would never be able to un-see. Raven's purple emoticlone, Passion, was suspended in the air with black magic shackles holding her spread eagle as black lightning arced across her body constantly, a suddenly ear-splitting scream filling the endless void they were in. How he hadn't heard it before he'd never understand. Beside Passion and on the ground, weeping hysterically, was Timid, the grey emoticlone. Before them was Rage, glowing red eyes watching them with a wicked grin on her face, blood red energy around her hands, and someone else by her side. This someone had a hand extended, black magic power rolling off of it in waves, fueling the spell torturing Passion. They wore a silver cuirass with silver pauldrons over a black long-sleeved shirt, silver gauntlets, silver greaves, black pants, and a black scarf covering the bottom half of his pale grey face, the ends falling behind each shoulder. He had long white hair, glowing blue eyes, and there was a stylized "M" on the front of his cuirass.

 _Malchior,_ Beast Boy thought before speeding forward.

He wasn't really sure what his plan was, but with a snap of Malchior's free hand's fingers, Beast Boy was suddenly himself, crashing to the ground and rolling along. He rolled to a stop and pushed himself up, glaring at Malchior.

"Just in time, Beast Boy," Malchior said. "I was just about to absorb the last of Raven's Passion."

"No," Beast Boy said. "You aren't."

He sprinted forward and Malchior snorted, flicking his free hand and throwing Beast Boy away. As he lowered his hand, however, Robin's explosive disk landed between his feet.

"Oh shit," Malchior groaned just before it exploded, launching him.

Beast boy threw himself forward, sliding along the ground but catching Passion before she hit, sliding to a stop and looking down at her, worried. After a moment, she looked up at him, awestruck.

"You came back," Passion breathed.

"I'm sorry I ever left," Beast Boy said.

Passion smiled, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek before pushing herself off and sitting beside Timid, hugging her. As she did, Beast Boy stood, looking over at Malchior.

"Alright, fine," Malchior growled, standing and dusting himself off. "Let's see what you've got."

Beast Boy began to shift, this time forming a massive lion with a scorpion tail and fur as hard as metal. He drove his stinger at Malchior who avoided it, blasting Beast Boy in the side. Beast Boy shrugged the strike off, charging and swiping at him only for Malchior to avoid it and blast him again. This time, it hit Beast Boy's eye and Beast Boy shifted back, flying backward while holding a hand to his eye, which was swelling rapidly. Then, he shifted into a cheetah, sprinting forward before becoming a water buffalo, his horns ramming into Malchior, launching him away. Malchior flipped, stopping himself then charged at Beast Boy, throwing several rapid punches at Beast Boy, who was once again a human. Beast Boy avoided the strikes, and then began to counter as Robin had taught him, but after several seconds, Malchior caught his arm and spun, hurling him away. Beast Boy flipped, landing on his feet and lunging again, shifting to throw a punch as a guerrilla, no part of him thinking about holding back. the fist connected with Malchior's entire head and he shot away before flipping, blood red flames exploding off of his body into a gigantic fireball the size of a house before going out, leaving Malchior in his dragon form.

Malchior roared, a column of flames shooting into the sky but Beast Boy's sprint hadn't slowed at all since he threw his punch. He leapt at Malchior, shifting into an ankylosaurus in mid air and curling into a massive ball, crashing into Malchior's torso, blasting him backward. Malchior flapped his wings as a Peregrine Falcon shot toward him, only to suddenly expand into a full-size dragon, connecting a devastating Lariat to Malchior's chest and launching him away before Beast Boy chased him. Malchior righted himself and let loose a torrent of flames, which Beast Boy flew straight into. When Beast Boy met Malchior, his teeth sank into Malchior's neck, Malchior roaring in pain, both of them shredding at each other with their claws, thick splatters of blood crashing to the ground rapidly as they fought. Beast Boy released Malchior's throat, Malchior instantly latching on. Beast Boy roared in pain this time, before his left foreleg, or arm, Beast Boy wasn't really sure which it would count ass since it functioned as both, reached up, gouging out Malchior's right eye, ripping at his face. Malchior released his throat with a pained roar and Beast Boy began to cook his face. Malchior's head snapped around, his own flames fighting against Beast Boy's. For a moment it was a stalemate, until Beast Boy stopped, head snapping around to the side of Malchior's, grabbing it in his jaws and biting down hard, breaking Malchior's horns and jaw, then sending a jet of flames directly into Malchior's head. Malchior roared in agony as his face slowly cooked, the smell of burning flesh filling the area. Then, finally, Beast Boy grabbed Malchior with all four legs and spun his body, yanking away with his head. There was a sickeningly wet tearing sound, accompanied by a machine gun fire of cracks, pops, and snaps, before a second, much louder wet tearing sound and Malchior's body fell away, crashing down to the ground.

Beast Boy released Malchior's head, roaring triumphantly before beginning to fall, crashing down hard beside Malchior, his blood pooling quickly below him from the dozens of deep and savage gashes covering his torso and legs. He began to push himself up just as Rage screamed, a column of blood red energy shooting up around her. Then, it expanded before Trigon stepped out of it, staring down at Beast Boy.

"I will commend your power, creature," Trigon admitted. "Now, stay out of my way and I may allow you to live. I have business with my daughter."

Beast Boy's head slowly scraped across the ground, reaching around to look back at the two remaining pieces of Raven, Timid still sobbing and Passion looking to be not far off. Then, Beast Boy looked up at Trigon and roared, a jet of flame shooting at him. Trigon's eyes flashed and the fire curved, spiraling around Trigon and turning blood red before growing and shooting back at Beast Boy. A moment later, white hot agony flooded Beast Boy's entire body as he was suddenly bathed in the flames. He roared, the sound weak and pained. His limbs began to burn away, his wings doing so more quickly. Agony. Fear. Regret. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to die until he apologized to Raven. Until he saved her.

Something inside of him broke, and suddenly the pain was gone. His head fell to the ground with a great crash and numbness filled him. Flames danced before his eyes. It crackled deafeningly in his ears. His body felt cold. He probably didn't have much left. He heard Passion scream but couldn't move. His body below his neck was already completely numb. And it was still spreading.

This was it. He was going to burn to death in Raven's mind, listening to Raven's last two non-Rage emotions die. Then, the numbness was complete. Except, he wasn't dead. And he could see something green in front of him through the red flames. He blinked as the green thing distorted, a wave of excess whatever it was passing toward him from it then passing over him. He realized with a start that it was a beak, _his_ beak, and made of flame. He shot up, flapping his wings to get above the flames, inadvertently putting them out, then stared down at his flaming bird body. It was made entirely out of green flames. A thought crossed his mind. He felt strong, even without feeling anything. He turned toward Trigon who was staring at him furiously.

"What manor of beast is this?" Trigon demanded.

Beast Boy tipped his head back, unleashing a piercing shriek before flapping his wings hard once, shooting at Trigon. Trigon's right hand released Passion, moving up to shield himself only for Beast Boy to fly lower, one flaming foot catching Raven harmlessly as he snapped a wing out, slamming it into Trigon's abdomen, blasting him backward. He was bigger than he realized. Trigon was just as massive as he remembered, but Beast Boy's new form was equally massive. Beast Boy slowly lowered himself to the ground beside an awestruck Timid, setting Passion down gently. Then, he took to the air again, turning to Trigon as a blast of red energy blasted through his chest, opening a hole in the flames that then healed after a moment. Beast Boy grinned, shooting forward and crashing into Trigon, knocking him to the ground and tearing at him with his flaming talons. After several minutes, Trigon's fist connected with Beast Boy's head, knocking him sideways. Beast Boy flapped his wings, righting himself, then flapped again, getting above Trigon to avoid a punch before dropping on him. Trigon crashed to the ground and Beast Boy shrieked, driving his beak into Trigon rapidly, Trigon's thick black blood flying out with each strike. Then, Trigon's fist crashed into Beast Boy, launching him away.

Beast Boy flipped, flapping his wings and steadying himself as Trigon stood before bellowing in rage. A wave of blood red energy shot off of him before enveloping Beast Boy and Beast Boy felt himself begin to shift against his will. Then, he was on the ground as himself again. He groaned, pushing himself up, feeling light headed from his earlier blood loss but thankfully free of wounds. He looked up at Trigon as Trigon raised a hand, a massive broadsword forming in his hand. Beast Boy glanced back at Passion, who was barely breathing, then at Trigon again. Trigon roared and slashed downward at Beast Boy. Just before the sword hit, Beast Boy shifted and was gone. Trigon lifted his sword, looking around in confusion.

Beast Boy, flying around as a gnat, flew up over Trigon before transforming again, becoming a Blue Whale and falling. Trigon looked up, stabbing upward and impaling Beast Boy only for all four hundred ten thousand pounds of Beast Boy to crash down on top of Trigon. Then, Beast Boy shifted once again, transforming into a Griffin and shooting forward talons splitting Trigon open up the ground. Then, he slashed Trigon's through, talons catching on something and a moment later, a massive chunk of demonic carotid artery was spinning through the air ahead of a wall of thick black blood. Beast Boy fell to the ground, struggling to get away from the rapidly growing pool of demonic blood but as he tried to crawl away, he shifted back, his own blood pooling rapidly from his gaping stab wound. Then, he glowed black and floated away from Trigon who began to shrink down. Beast Boy was set lightly before Timid who then began to glow black herself. A moment later, Passion and the corpses of all of the other parts of Raven, turned into massive black blasts of energy, shooting through the air and merging with her, leaving the real Raven before Beast Boy.

Instantly she shouted in fear, beginning to try to use her healing power to keep him alive as the realm around them crumbled. Then, they were on the floor of her room, Beast Boy's blood already in a puddle, staining Raven's cape.

"CYBORG ROBIN AQUALAD HELP! ! !" Raven shrieked, the white aura between Beast Boy and her hands beginning to flicker. "No! Not again!"

It stopped flickering, growing brighter, but even as the wound began to seal itself, Beast Boy's eyes began to drift closed.

"I...love you...Rae," Beast Boy breathed before they closed fully.

* * *

Raven stared. She felt numb. Hollow. There was nothing that could be done. He had simply lost too much blood. As amazing as her powers were, that was the only thing that she couldn't heal. Blood loss.

Lightning flashed outside the shattered window behind her, rain splashing down in the growing puddle on the floor. Still she stared. Beast Boy looked calm, peaceful, lying in his bed, white sheets draped over him, only his face and neck exposed. Raven felt her eyes burning, but she had no tears left. They had left her at the same time she shattered every window and piece of technology in the tower. Less than a minute before the three male Titans in the tower had arrived. When Beast Boy had died.

"There was nothing you could have done, Raven," Robin said.

"He beat him," Raven said. "He beat my father. All on his own. And after being wounded fighting Malchior, too."

"He was fighting to protect the one he loved," Robin said. "Nothing in all of existence could have beaten him."

Just then, the door opened and Cyborg stepped in, sighing and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Alright, so, good news or bad news first?" Cyborg asked.

"Good," Robin said.

"He's stabile, mostly," Cyborg said. "I was able to hook him up to the heart pump quickly enough for him to come back, at least, once Raven fixed it. His condition is well beyond critical. He's comatose, and even that because I have him hooked up to a neural amplifier to keep his brain functioning."

"I said good news," Robin said.

"That _was_ the good news," Cyborg said. "Bad news is, it won't last three days if we don't get him blood."

"What's his type?" Robin asked.

"Rh null," Cyborg said. "His powers keep the negative effects from arising, but...well..."

"He can only accept Rh null blood," Robin said. "And the fastest we could get any would be-"

"A week," Cyborg said. "Maybe five days since we're heroes."

"Um, guys?" Raven spoke up. "I have Rh null blood."

"Wait, what?" Robin blinked.

"All Azarathians carry Rh null blood," Raven said. "Not because of the same disease that gives it to humans, but just because that's the way we are."

"I could run some tests," Cyborg said. "I'll need a sample, and an hour."

Raven nodded and held her arm out. Cyborg grabbed a syringe, drawing some blood, then quickly left the room. Raven healed the hole so it wouldn't bleed, then turned toward Beast Boy, a tiny flicker of hope returning.

"How are you feeling?" Robin asked. "You said something about your emotions being killed by your father before. Are they..."

"They're still there," Raven said. "They're still weak, but I have emotions. Even with the emoticlones dead I would have emotions. I'm just worried."

"He's going to be okay," Robin said. "We'll find a way."

Raven nodded and Robin left her alone, staring through the one-way window into the one hundred percent sterile room inside where Beast Boy lay, kept alive only by a dozen or so machines. The hope began to fade.

* * *

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	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

Sideways

Pain. Not severe. Not nearly as bad as he would have expected. But still pain. It was the first thing he felt when he stirred. The next was the catheter. He groaned inwardly. He had to have been comatose. Otherwise that wouldn't have been necessary. He flexed his arms and, sure enough, felt the telltale pricks of IVs. But he couldn't feel a feeding tube, or a breathing tube, so obviously he had either been recovering for a while or he had not been out for long. Maybe both.

He risked cracking an eye open and shut it instantly as the light above him sent pain lancing through his head which then throbbed with his heartbeat. The pain faded after a couple of seconds and he groaned, managing to turn his head to the side. Almost instantly he felt a small deceptively delicate hand slip into his. Her skin was much softer than her extremely powerful abilities would suggest. As well as her heritage. He inhaled deeply, smiling as her scent filled his nose, except that it was laced with the scent of blood and tears. He forced his eyes open, groaning against the pain. She lifted a hand, shutting the light out instantly and his eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness, taking her in. She was covered in dried blood, probably his, and had tear streaks down her cheeks, but was smiling at him.

"Hey Rae," Beast Boy smiled, his voice hoarse and barely audible.

"Hey," she smiled back. "You came back for me."

"I should have never left," Beast Boy smiled, realizing she probably had no idea what had happened in her mind.

"That's what you said last time," she smiled, Beast Boy's eyes widening a bit. "Thank you, Garfield. Thank you for coming back, even though I didn't deserve it."

She stared down at his hand, now held in both of hers as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I know I don't...I don't deserve your forgiveness-"

"But you have it," Beast Boy smiled, squeezing her hand lightly. "You've always had it. I'm the one that should be apologizing. I'm so sorry for hurting you, and for leaving. I just...I needed to be away for a while. It doesn't excuse the way I acted. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," Raven smiled. "You're here now."

Her smile faltered then began to fade.

"I mean, that is, if you even want-"

Beast Boy reached up, grabbing her by the back of the neck and pulling her into a kiss. She sighed, kissing him back, even as the one-way window shattered and the heart monitor attached to Beast Boy's arm exploded and crumpled itself into a ball. After several seconds, she pulled back, smiling before a sad look fell on her face again.

"I owe you another apology," Raven said.

"For what?" Beast Boy asked.

"After I got us back to my room, you died of blood loss," Raven said. "Cyborg managed to bring you back, but you needed blood to survive. I was the only one with Rh null blood close enough to save you."

"So you saved my life again," Beast Boy said. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because taking my blood had side effects," Raven said.

"Like what?" Beast Boy asked.

"I did the window," Raven said, gesturing toward it.

Beast Boy looked confused before understanding dawned on him and his eyes slowly shifted to the heart monitor.

"You mean...I have the same powers as you?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not as strong," Raven said. "But yes."

Beast Boy stared at his hands in awe before grinning widely.

"So, can I get out of bed now?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes you can," Cyborg said, stepping into the room. "I just gotta take the catheter out."

Raven turned and left the room instantly, but not before Beast Boy caught sight of the blush on her cheeks. A few moments later, he stood, getting dressed and walking out of the medical bay before Raven fixed everything in the room before smiling at Beast Boy. He smiled back and sat beside her, Raven instantly moving into his lap and curling into a ball, head against his neck.

"So...uh...I'm going to be going now," Aqualad spoke up from near the door. "I mean, unless you guys still need me."

Beast Boy's jaw tightened as the memory of Aqualad wrapping an arm around Raven flashed into his head. one of Raven's eyebrows went up a little as a grin grew on her face.

"Thanks for filling in," Raven said. "Have a nice trip."

The door opened after a moment and he left. Then, Raven pulled back, staring at Beast Boy for a moment before kissing him. He kissed her back, hands settling on her waist as the windows shattered.

"Raven," Robin said from where he and Starfire were lying on the other side of the rounded couch.

"Wasn't me," Raven said pulling back from Beast Boy just long enough to speak then repaired the windows as she and Beast Boy continued.

"No making out in the common room," Robin said.

After several more seconds, the pair finally separated and Beast Boy heaved a dramatic sigh. Then, he wrapped his arms around Raven, lying down on the couch, Raven smiling and settling into his chest. They sat silently, both couples simply enjoying being with the other while they watched whatever show Starfire had on at the moment. Then, the alarm sounded.

"Aw," Beast Boy groaned as Raven got up, only for Beast Boy to begin floating into the air.

He blinked in surprise, trying to grab the couch, succeeding only in getting himself to slowly spin in the air. Raven began to laugh as Beast Boy, now upside down, crossed his arms and gave her an unimpressed look, the other three titans in the room paying his display absolutely no mind as Robin typed away on the computer.

"When we get back I'll teach you to control them," Raven promised, taking his hands and spinning him right-side-up then pulling him back to the ground.

"They've seen me floating before haven't they?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes," Raven nodded. "While you were asleep."

Beast Boy nodded as Raven pulled him across the room, since he was still floating and didn't know how to make himself move around in the air.

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"Slade," Robin said. "I sure hope you can fight like that Beast Boy."

"I'll be fine," Beast Boy said.

Robin nodded and he and Cyborg sprinted out of the room. As they did, Starfire flew to the stairs and Raven flew herself and Beast Boy out through the window and into the air. Once everyone was out, they checked their communicators and took off toward the warehouse where Slade was spotted. After about three minutes, they landed on the roof, Beast Boy finally able to stand on his own without floating away, and stared into the skylight of the building. Below them, was definitely _not_ Slade.

Green reptilian-looking creatures with a pair of T-rex legs, a pair of arms with clawed, webbed fingers on its hands and what looked like small suction cups on the hands, long reptilian tails ending in a black, and probably very hard, point, a hunch back, and a reptilian head with exaggeratedly large jagged teeth walked to and fro, carrying machinery and bits of scrap metal to the center of the room.

"What are those?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't know," Robin replied. "They look a little like Daemonites but they're different."

"Whatever they are, they can't be allowed to finish whatever they're doing," Cyborg said.

"Hold on," Robin said. "We got reports of Slade here. We can't rule out the possibility of him being present."

"We'll all be careful and report it as soon as he shows up," Raven said. "Now, Cyborg's right. Let's handle these things."

Robin nodded and Raven took Beast Boy's hand, teleporting them silently to the shadows of one corner, behind a stack of boxes where the creatures had already cleared the room. From there, Beast Boy transformed into a fly, buzzing to the opposite corner and landing on the floor, waiting.

"Welcome guests," a voice suddenly spoke, Beast Boy freezing then turning to look to the side where a man was lounging in a scrap-metal throne complete with broken computer tower armrests stacked two high on each side, a stereo speaker seat, and the back was a refrigerator. "I'm so glad you could join us for our little...celebration. Please, come in and join us, Robin, Cyborg, Starfire. I'm sure Raven and Beast Boy would appreciate the company."

Beast Boy shifted back. No point hiding if he knew he was there already. The man turned to look at him, probably smiling behind his mask. It wasn't Slade. The mask was a silver one designed as a skull and with a black hood up over it. Attached to the back of the hood, a tattered cape fell behind the man, pinned between him and his makeshift seat. He wore a suit of black and dark grey body armor with belts of bullets and grenades across his chest in an "X", a broadsword hung from the left side of his hip, an arming sword rested against the fridge, and he had numerous guns. A pair of pistols on his thighs, both of which looked like Russian Type 54 Black Stars, a sniper rifle was leaning on the opposite side of the fridge from the sword, a pair of MP5s hung against the man's sides, and he had a shotgun in his lap.

"So, let me guess," Beast Boy said, trying to keep the man's attention. "You're the Trash King. No no no, wait! You're Garbageman."

"Actually, you may call be Blitz, Garfield Logan," the man said, Beast Boy's jaw dropping open. "And I know the seat isn't much to look at, but a king must have his throne. Even one such as this. It is a symbol of my right to rule."

"Rule what?" Robin asked, stepping up beside Beast Boy, who snapped out of his shock at hearing his own name.

"Everything," Blitz smirked before taking hold of his shotgun and standing. "This entire backwater planet is rightfully mine, and I intend to take it."

"Oh man," Robin snorted. "Boy you have got a job ahead of you. You know who lives on this planet right?"

"Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aqualad, Doctor Fate, Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, Supergirl, Superboy, and the daughter of Trigon, to name only a few," Blitz listed. "Believe me, when I'm finished, this planet _will_ be mine."

"You're awfully calm for someone planning to fight a martian, three Kryptonians, at the very least one Tamaranian, and Batman," Beast Boy said.

"Everyone has a weakness," Blitz said. "Fire, Kryptonite, Robin...and Robin again."

"Excuse me?" Robin blinked.

Blitz chuckled.

"Does he seem just a little too calm to you?" Beast Boy asked.

"Way too calm," Robin said.

Blitz set his shotgun on the ground and raised his hands. Beast Boy and Robin readied themselves only for Blitz to begin clapping.

"I applaud you managing to get here so quickly," Blitz said. "One minute thirty two point three three nine seconds. A new record, I believe."

Robin and Beast Boy stared at Blitz incredulously. What the hell was going on?

"Now, I would love to sit here and watch you tear my workers apart like every other villain you've fought, but I'm on a tight schedule. So for the time being, I'm going to have to deal with you personally."

Robin and Beast Boy readied themselves again.

"It's quite a shame really," Blitz continued, Beast Boy and Robin not taking their eyes off of him. "I had planned out a nice, perfect, long-winded speech about how you five could join me, and while listening to me you wouldn't notice my pet project being completed. But you had to go and break your record and we simply can't have that."

He suddenly spun, swinging a hand up but only to throw a scrap of material. Beast Boy, having dodged sideways from what he was certain was going to be a strike, watched the material drift lazily through the air uncomprehendingly. Robin had also dodged, having read Blitz's body language and seen him preparing a strike. Robin watched Blitz. but then, when he blinked, Blitz was in motion. Blitz's fist crashed into Robin's gut seconds before Robin's hands could block it. Then, as Robin was still bending forward from the blow, Blitz's knee crashed into his head, flipping him backward. Blitz caught his foot, spinning and smashing the boy into the green tiger leaping at him, both sailing through the air and crashing down as Robin and Beast Boy near the pile of metal.

Cyborg fell from above throwing a punch at Blitz, only for Blitz to step backward, avoiding it. Then, his foot crashed into Cyborg who sailed across the room, passing over the pile of metal and blasting through the massive doors in the front. Starfire was next, firing barrage after barrage of star bolts at Blitz, streaking through the air. However, before she could reach him, he drew a knife, hurling it at her. She streaked sideways and suddenly black energy surrounded his hands and feet, holding him in place.

"Get him!" Raven shouted.

Beast Boy reacted first, charging at him as a cheetah before becoming a rhino. He crashed into Blitz...and stopped. He shifted back, staggering away as Blitz laughed.

"What are you made of?" Beast Boy complained.

"You thought that would work?" Blitz laughed. "I'm planning on fighting three different Kryptonians, and you thought you could hurt me with a rhinoceros?"

He grunted with effort and the black energy shattered. Then, he drew one of his pistols.

"I'm done playing around," Blitz said. "Say goodnight."

He swung the gun around at Robin first, squeezing off a round just as there was a flash of green. Starfire screamed as the bullet tore through her shoulder. next, Blitz swung the gun around on Raven. Before he could fire, an enraged roar filled the area and a pair of guerrilla arms crashed down on his arm. The bullet skipped off of the floor and into one of the alien workers, killing it. Beast Boy spun, grabbing Blitz and hurling him. Blitz flipped, landing on his feet and peppering Beast Boy with bullets. Raven screamed. Beast Boy felt his chest explode into pain, staggering backward as rivulets of blood ran down his body. Then, he looked up as Blitz turned back toward Raven. Rage filled him again and his body expanded. Hair grew into scales. Teeth sharpened. His face elongated. A tail grew rapidly, along with wings. Then, he roared, a jet of white-hot flames engulfing Blitz. Several dozen explosions and massive pops went off, completely drowning out Blitz's scream. Raven formed a shield around Blitz, trapping the bullets and explosions inside. Then, finally, the explosions ended and Raven let the shield fade. Blitz staggered out of the smoke, covered in cuts, bullets wounds, and with his entire suit and mask melted almost seamlessly together. But he was alive still, and was forcing himself to move through sheer strength.

"Alright, I'll admit," Blitz snarled. "I'm impressed. But now I'm also pissed."

He dove to the remains of his throne and grabbed his sword and shotgun, then turned, slashing the side of Beast Boy's head, splitting his cheek wide open and swinging his bite to the side. Beast Boy roared, pulling his head away before unleashing a stream of flame at him. Blitz rolled to the side then raised the shotgun, blasting Beast Boy in the left shoulder. Beast Boy roared, falling to the side, landing on his right wing and successfully breaking it. He felt the urge to shift back, the pain beginning to interfere with his ability to hold his form. He grit his teeth, shifting into a massive snake the length of three busses and as big around as a hundred year old oak tree with a massive cobra hood, glowing yellow eyes, and fangs as long as Blitz's sword.

"Basilisk," Blitz growled, dropping his eyes to the ground.

Beast Boy hissed and lunged, snapping at Blitz only for him to roll out of the way, Beast Boy's jaws scooping up the remains of Blitz's chair then hurling them at him. Blitz flipped aside from the attack and raised his sword. Then, as Beast Boy lunged again, Blitz flipped over the strike and stabbed the blade into his back. A massive blast of Black energy exploded into him, launching him into a wall of star bolts. The explosion obliterated the warehouse, sending all of the non-giant-snake people in the room flying, Beast Boy crashing into the pile of scrap metal, the metal being shoved out of the way and the hidden swords that had been underneath with their blades up impaling Beast Boy through the back. Beast Boy fought to hold the form. Becoming anything at all would result in his death. As the smoke cleared, Blitz strode forward, once again practically unharmed.

"My my," Blitz grinned. "That trap worked perfectly."

"Trap?" Beast Boy hissed. "How..."

"How did I know you would flop back first onto it?" Blitz asked. "Simple. I originally was going to put you there as a guerilla. However, you becoming...supernatural creatures put a bit of a kink in that plan. Fortunately, I adapted it and made use of your friends' powers to the same result."

"You...planned...everything?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not quite," Blitz said. "Your dragon form caught me a bit by surprise. Fortunately, you are less dangerous in it than I anticipated."

Beast Boy struggled to lift himself off but couldn't muster the strength to move while holding his transformation.

"Now that you're going to be sticking around a while," Blitz said. "Why don't I go and see about talking to that lovely half-demon you care so deeply about. After all, I'm a huge fan of her father's."

Beast Boy's eyes widened just before a sphere of black energy formed in front of Blitz. He raised an eyebrow before it expanded to the size of an elephant in the blink of an eye, the result being that it hit Blitz like an explosion and sent him flying. The sphere faded and Blitz landed on his feet, grinning.

"Looks like you're not too pleased with me, Raven," Blitz grinned.

Raven floated to the ground beside Beast Boy, black flames shooting high into the air from her hands, black energy shining from her eyes.

"You lay another hand on Garfield, and I'll rip you apart piece by piece," Raven snarled.

Starfire landed beside her, green energy streaming from her eyes and rising into the air like flames, reaching as high as the energy around Raven's hands, Starfire's own encased in star bolts.

"You will stop hurting my friends," Starfire snarled. "Leave now or we'll kill you."

Blitz watched them for a moment before bowing low. Then, he leapt into the air, a massive creature with the body of a snake, a spiked morning star tip to its tail, bat wings, and the head of a lion, complete with green mane, flew under him, Blitz landing on it and raising a hand in farewell as the creature flew away. Raven spun instantly, rushing to Beast Boy's side and beginning to use her healing powers to slow his bleeding. At the same time, each sword was encased in black energy one at a time before fading from existence, reappearing off to the side and clattering to the ground. As she worked to remove the swords, Raven also sealed his wounds. But he was bleeding out, quickly.

"Sorry...Rae," Beast Boy said, voice still hissing as it came from the massive snake head lying beside her. "I...failed."

Raven's healing powers began to flicker and she shrieked in rage and determination. Then, she and Beast Boy were swallowed by a massive black void and were gone.

"Where'd they go?" Cyborg asked, checking his sensors.

"I don't know," Robin said, stopping beside Starfire. "Are you alright?"

"I shall be fine," Starfire said. "The bullet hit nothing vital."

Robin nodded just as a massive black vortex formed. A whisper began to echo from it, a scream, barely audible. The vortex began to pull in scraps of metal, dust, and stones. Then, faded and Raven dropped to the ground, clutching Beast Boy's unconscious form to her chest.

"Raven!" Robin shouted, sprinting over with the others. "Is he..."

"He's alive," Raven said, barely conscious herself. "I pulled us both into...a pocket dimension...where time is slowed. I was...able to heal him in time there. But...he's still...wounded...and I...can't..."

Robin stepped forward, catching her as she passed out. Robin set her down beside Beast Boy as Cyborg inspected Beast Boy.

"He's hurt pretty bad still," Cyborg said. "I could take him back to the tower to treat him but...he'll be out of the fight for a while."

"I know," Robin said. "And Raven's burnt herself out. She'll be down for a bit. And with Star wounded, we're down two and a half titans."

"We need a safe place to recover," Cyborg said. "We need to rest until they're better."

"You're right," Robin nodded. "Let's head back to the tower. Choose some of the other Titans to fill in for us here. Then we'll head out."

"Where to?" Cyborg asked.

"It's time for me to go home," Robin said. "My father will be able to help Beast Boy, and we can stay there safely so long as no one breaks anything. And if everyone swears to never tell anyone what they learn. And passes the background search."

"Jesus," Cyborg said. "Sounds like someone's paranoid."

"He is," Robin said. "But then again, we are going to be living with Batman for a while."

Cyborg's jaw dropped.

"Batman?" Cyborg asked. "We're going to be living with Batman? Batman's your father?"

"Adoptive, but yeah," Robin nodded.

Cyborg nodded, picking up Beast Boy after bandaging his wounds as best he could. Robin picked up Raven and they left, heading for the T-car. Then, they left to go back to the tower.

* * *

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	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

Vacation Home

Beast Boy groaned, his eyes slowly fluttering open. He looked around. He was lying in a California King bed with a post on every corner with a curtain handing around it. The bedspread was purple with a red curtain around it and the room was decorated with countess probably priceless objects such as a TV that bordered on a hundred inch, a model of the Game Station that hadn't even been released yet, ancient vases and weapons and furniture, and an ancient grandfather clock. Beast Boy took in the room for several seconds before trying to sit up into to gasp and drop back to the bed, his entire torso erupting in pain.

He lifted the comforter and sheet and saw that he was shirtless with bandages covering his torso. The last thing he remembered was transforming into a basilisk and attacking Blitz. Then he had fallen backward and...oh. He had been impaled. He remembered Raven trying to heal him but it hadn't been working. He looked around. Where was Raven? And the others. Surely someone would be worried about their extremely wounded teammate. Sure Starfire had been shot but still.

Suddenly the massive double-door leading in and out of the room groaned as it was pushed open slightly and Raven slipped inside, carefully closing the door, seeming to try to remain quiet, then looked at the bed, eyes widening when she saw he was awake. Her eyes were bloodshot and had frighteningly dark bags under them. She looked exhausted.

"Sorry," Raven said tiredly, walking over to the bed. "I tried not to wake you up."

"You didn't," Beast Boy said. "But why didn't you just phase through the door?"

"I burnt myself out to save you," Raven said. "I'm too tired to use my powers."

"How _did_ you save me?" Beast Boy asked.

"I took you to a pocket dimension where time is slowed, then healed you there, since I would have time there," Raven said. "But keeping us there while also using my powers to keep myself at normal speed and heal you was exhausting."

Beast Boy nodded. That did sound exhausting. Raven walked over, pulling the covers down enough to check his bandages, then pulled it back up, sitting in a chair beside him.

"You need rest," Raven said. "You'll have to heal normally until I've regained my strength. Or until you've regained enough energy for the powers you got from me to kick in."

"You need rest too," Beast Boy said, fighting off a yawn at the thought of sleep.

"I will," Raven smiled. "I just want to be able to be here with you for a while."

Beast Boy smiled and shook his head.

"When did I say you had to go away to rest?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven's eyes widened slightly as Beast Boy grunted in discomfort as he shifted over then lifted the covers. Raven hesitated before nodding slowly and slipping under the covers. Her cape wasn't on, at the moment, so she had nothing to hide her blush. She lay down a few inches from him but Beast Boy snaked an arm under her, feeling Raven tense.

"It's alright," Beast Boy said.

"We'll break something," Raven said then blushing at how that sounded.

Beast Boy chuckled.

"You can't get your powers to work right now," Beast Boy said. "And I'm too wounded for mine to do anything."

Raven considered for a moment before carefully scooting closer, resting her head on his shoulder and gently wrapping her arms around him. He smiled, placing a light kiss on the top of her head then closing his eyes, sighing contentedly. Raven smiled to herself, curling into him, nuzzling her face into the side of his neck. His steady breathing slowly lulled her into sleep along with him. Then, all too soon, she was being gently shaken awake. She yawned, opening her eyes and looked up at him to see him smiling down at her.

"Starfire says it's time to eat," Beast Boy said.

"I don't want to," Raven said, tucking her face back into his neck.

He chuckled, fingers gently combing through her hair.

"Well you need to eat to keep up your strength," Beast Boy said. "And I can't move enough to go get food. So, I suppose the only solution is for you to go get our food and bring it back in here."

Raven stared at him for a moment before grinning and nodding. Then, she climbed out of bed and left the room. Beast Boy smiled as she left and stared up at the ceiling. Then, pressure began to build.

"Crap," Beast Boy groaned. "Why now?"

He grit his teeth, trying desperately to ignore it, his finely tuned ears listening to Raven's steps. Why did she have to walk so slow? Slowly, she reached the dining room, but Beast Boy couldn't hold out any longer. He pulled the comforter and sheets off, pulling himself to the edge of the bed then gritting his teeth and forcing himself to his feet, supporting his wait with the bedpost. His body spasmed in agony but he managed to stay on his feet, and hold the pressure back. He inched his way along the wall, one agonizing step at a time. He could smell the bleach and hand soap from the private bathroom door on the wall to the left of the bed. Just thirty feet. His next step wobbled and he caught himself on a dresser. Too close. Twenty five feet. His feet were dragging. Fifteen feet.

His foot caught on the leg of a chair and he braced himself for impact. Instead of hitting the ground, a pair of slender arms wrapped around him, stopping his fall and holding him against their owner. He looked up, seeing Raven glaring at him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Raven asked.

"I was trying to got to the bathroom," Beast Boy said, Raven's eyes widening before her cheeks flushed.

"Oh," She said. "Um, alright then."

She helped him back up, supporting most of his weight as she all but carried him to the bathroom. Then, she set him down on the toilet and left, closing the door behind her. Beast Boy carefully slid his pants down to his knees and did what he had to. Then, he pulled his pants back up and flushed. He kicked the door lightly to get Raven's attention. She opened the door and helped him up, carrying him back to the bed.

Once he was in a seated position against all of the pillows, she sat beside him and handed him a bowl of tofurkey noodle soup. He smiled and ate it slowly while Raven had a BLT with tofu bacon. Once they were finished, Raven set the dishes on the bedside table and helped Beast Boy lay down before laying beside him again, his hand returning to combing through her hair as he had been before. After a few minutes, Raven drifted off, smiling slightly. Beast Boy smiled as well, placing a feather-light kiss on her forehead before setting his head back down and closing his eyes. After a moment, the door creaked open again and Cyborg walked in wearing normal clothes and with his hologram ring projecting a normal human.

"Cyborg?" Beast Boy blinked.

Cyborg held a finger to his lips.

"I figured Raven didn't explain where we were since she's too tired to stay awake," Cyborg said. "We're living with Batman for a while, like a vacation."

Beast Boy's jaw dropped but he remained silent.

"Also, you're going to see Robin and Batman both walking around without their masks on," Cyborg said. "Once you can get out of bed, at least. So I'm just going to warn you now. Batman is Bruce Wayne."

Beast Boy blinked twice before nodding slowly.

"What that's it?" Cyborg asked. "That's the reaction you have to finding out Batman's secret identity?"

"Well...I was at Wayne Manor once before," Beast Boy said. "Between the Doom Patrol and the Titans. I was...well...it was hard to find food, at the time. Anyway, I recognized the smell so I was wondering why we were in Wayne Manor, until you said we were living with Batman."

"Oh really?" Cyborg asked. "Not bad. I think you actually got a little smarter."

Beast Boy smiled and rolled his eyes and Cyborg set a pair of holographic rings on the nightstand then turned and walked out of the room. Beast Boy smiled, returning to stroking Raven's hair. He could definitely use a vacation.

* * *

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	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters. I don't actually know much about what Wayne Manor has so I made it up.

* * *

Relaxing

Beast Boy winced, holding a hand to his chest resisting the urge to shift as he watched the others. Robin and Cyborg were supposed to be playing volleyball with Raven and Starfire, except that every time the ball went toward Robin, he was too distracted watching Starfire in her admittedly too-small bikini. Of course, Beast Boy's eyes were glued to Raven. She wasn't wearing a bathing suit, instead still wearing her leotard, but without the cape on he was still able to enjoy just how tight it really was. Not that he'd say anything to her about that.

He wished he could be out there with her, but even though he was finally healing enough to move around, he still couldn't shift, or play anything, or fall down, or stand longer than ten minutes, or run, or a list of other things. The kicker, however, was the part where he couldn't fall down. Especially since his legs were still weak when he _was_ standing. He still needed Raven to help him walk most of the time. She didn't seem to mind, though. He actually wasn't sure he had seen her stop smiling since they arrived.

He groaned, looking down at the bandages again. It was depressing sitting here. He wasn't even able to suntan. Though, when you'r green it really didn't matter much. He sighed and wished he had something to do. Just then, a weight settled on his lap and he looked up to see Raven smiling down at him knowingly.

"Sorry," Beast Boy smiled. "I didn't mean to make you stop playing."

"I'm not here because you're bored," Raven smiled kissing him. "I'm here because I wanted to see my boyfriend."

Beast Boy grinned. He loved hearing her call him that. Raven rolled her eyes, smiling, then turned sideways, leaning on his shoulder so she didn't aggravate his wounds.

"I'm sorry," Raven said after a moment.

"What?" Beast Boy blinked.

"I'm sorry," Raven repeated. "That I can't heal you. I know you're suffering. I wish I could-"

"It's alright Rae," Beast Boy smiled. "I'll be fine. I'll be healed even without your powers inside of a week anyway. Which means we get a nice long vacation for a change. And we're not even fighting any giant ink monsters this time."

Raven snorted and nodded before the smile faded. Beast Boy knew what was coming and beat her to it.

"Don't apologize for that," Beast Boy said. "It's done. And it doesn't matter anymore. You had good reason to do it. And it worked out pretty well in the end, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah," Raven smiled. "I guess it did. Though, I suppose we'd also have to admit my father was partially responsible for this."

"I'll be sure to thank him when I ask for his ble..." Beast Boy stopped short, swallowing as his face turned a dark green and Raven's turned bright pink.

"Hey Raven?" Robin called out suddenly. "Can we have our ball back?"

Raven and Beast Boy both looked seeing the ball doing jerky figure eights over the volleyball court, a black aura around it.

"That's not me," Raven said. "Mine are still out."

"Sorry," Beast Boy said, forcing himself to calm down, the ball dropping onto Robin's side.

"Point, Starfire," Cyborg said.

"Oh what!?" Robin demanded.

"She was going to get it anyway dude," Cyborg shrugged.

Beast Boy chuckled as Robin tried desperately to argue it.

"I suppose it's not so bad here," Raven smiled. "I should be able to start healing you tomorrow."

"Give it a couple of days," Beast Boy said. "Make sure you're rested enough first. That way you don't burn yourself out again."

"What, you don't want to stay here even longer?" Raven asked.

"I would love to," Beast Boy said. "But I also would love to be able to spend that vacation with my girlfriend awake instead of her sleeping the whole time."

"Fair enough," Raven smiled.

* * *

Beast Boy walked out out of the manor into the garden in the backyard. To the left was the volleyball court, to the right a massive in-ground pool, and straight ahead was a huge hedge maze. Robin claimed that the maze was mostly for fun and actually didn't have any secrets, but he was certain that somewhere in it was a secret entrance to the Batcave. And since Robin was away helping Batman deal with a breakout from Arkham Asylum, that mean that the Batcave was currently free of extremely dangerous inhabitants.

He walked into the maze, grinning. He would have about ten minutes before Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven noticed he hadn't come back from his "walk" and he wanted to have something to show off when Raven found him. He walked along through the maze, admiring the absolutely perfectly squared hedges as he walked, taking turns and forks at a steady pace. Raven had healed him a little bit, just enough that he wasn't in much pain, and his own new healing abilities had healed him some more. Finally, he stopped. He had reached a large open and perfectly squared area with several tunnels leaving it and grinned. Dead center. He began to sweep his foot over the ground but stopped after he had searched it all. Nothing. Maybe it's at the other end. He turned and then stopped, smile dropping away. Which tunnel did he enter through again?

She looked around for several seconds before shrugging and walking off down one heading away from the mansion. He allowed his instincts lead him, knowing he was probably running low on time but also knowing that he was probably lost. He slowed to a stop when he reached the same square area. That couldn't be right. He hadn't gone in a circle. The turns didn't match up.

"Must be more than one area like this," Beast Boy shrugged, starting off down another path.

After about three minutes, he again stepped into a matching area. He dug his heel into the ground then walked off down a path, putting another rut at the beginning of that tunnel. After several minutes, he stepped into a square area, the ruts still present.

"Well shit," Beast Boy muttered, digging a rut and starting off down a fresh tunnel.

Another loop. Two more ruts and a few minutes of walking later, he found himself once again in the room.

"Okay," Beast Boy sighed, digging another rut and choosing a path. "I'll just keep trying. Eventually I'll either find the exit or the way back. Or Raven will find me. It's been a while though."

He started off again, once again finding himself in the square. Two ruts, new path. Loop. Two ruts. New path. Loop. the cycle continued until he found himself with only one tunnel left.

"Alright then," Beast Boy sighed. "Back it is. Nice maze, too."

He started off down the path, scanning the walls for any of the branches or forks he had seen on the way in. None. Finally, he stepped out into the square and stopped. He was in a parked entryway now, and there were no other open ones besides the one he had taken a moment ago.

"Uh...yeah," Beast Boy said. "Wrong turn."

He turned, walking back the way he had come, following the once again solitary path. When he stepped into the square, he looked down. Rut. His eyes widened. That wasn't possible. He looked up and around. There were no paths without ruts.

"Wha..." He trailed off before sitting down, sighing. "Where are you Raven?"

He looked up at the sky. It was still midday, but he had to have been in the maze for the better part of an hour by now. After a few minutes of waiting in silence, he stood, hurrying along one of the paths at random, this time finding branches and forks.

 _Finally!_ Beast Boy grinned, hurrying back along the exact way he had entered, only to step into the square again. _But...But...how?_

He turned, heading back and taking a side route, finding himself in the square again. Another alternate route, another trip to the square.

 _That's not possible,_ Beast Boy thought. _That's impossible. There's no way I keep ending up here. All of these paths had no forks before. Dammit Rae, where are you?_

"I'm right here," Raven said, floating down behind him, Beast Boy jumping and spinning, not having realized he was talking out loud. "Why are you even out here? Robin already told you there's no secret Batcave entrance."

"I know," Beast Boy sighed. "I just wanted to see for myself. I guess I just got lost, though."

"What am I going to do with you?" Raven sighed picking him up with her powers and floating him up beside her before wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"Getting me back to the mansion sounds like a good start," Beast Boy smiled, looking down.

His eyes scanned from the entrance inward. He couldn't find a path to the square. He shook his head slightly as Raven flew them over the maze then slowly lowered them to the ground, setting him on his feet. He stepped away, smiling at her and she smirked and rolled her eyes. They walked back inside, finding the others in Beast Boy's room, which had somehow become the new common room while he was awake, with Cyborg on the Game Station and Starfire watching him fight against a computer-controlled character, and lose. Badly.

"Hey Cyborg, please don't start another Atlas incident," Beast Boy spoke up, Cyborg rolling his eyes.

"I won't," Cyborg said. "Come play me. The computer's too good."

"Sure," Beast Boy said.

Beast Boy picked up the controller and three minutes later, set it down as Cyborg weeped dramatically.

"You suck," Beast Boy decided.

He sat down beside Raven, who was reading one of the hundreds of thousands of books Batman had in his personal library, and she leaned on his shoulder, smiling.

"Friend beast Boy, how was your walk?" Starfire asked.

"Uh...good I guess," Beast Boy said. "Not going back into that maze for a while."

Starfire nodded and returned to watching Cyborg lose to the computer. Finally Robin walked in, hair still wet from a shower and mask off, as it had been most of the time while they were there, revealing his bright blue eyes.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Robin asked.

"Cyborg sucks at the game," Beast Boy said.

"Grass Stain got stuck in the maze," Cyborg countered.

"Beast Boy," Robin said.

"I was just exploring," Beast Boy said. "Mostly."

Robin groaned, sitting beside Starfire who leaned on his shoulder as well. They stayed like that for a while until finally Raven yawned.

Beast Boy looked to Robin who nodded. Then, he stood, pulling Starfire up.

"Come on Star, I want to show you the balcony," Robin said. "It's got a view of the entire city."

Starfire squealed happily, pulling Robin out of the room in her excitement. Cyborg took the hint and shut the Game Station down, turning the TV off and left. Then, Beast Boy stood, pulling Raven to her feet. They had been sharing the room since the first nap after Beast Boy had woken up, an arrangement Beast Boy was extremely happy with.

A moment later, he and Raven were lying on the bed with their arms around each other, as usual, and Raven passed out almost instantly. Beast Boy smiled, withholding a laugh. Raven had clearly been tired for a while. He yawned as well, closing his eyes. Just as he began to drift off, he smelled something. It smelled like flowers and fresh air and something he couldn't quite place. Curiosity bloomed inside of him but he was too close to sleep to bother searching for the source. Instead, he simply smiled and slipped into a peaceful sleep.

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	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

Willpower

Beast Boy stirred, sniffing and again smelling whatever he had smelled before he fell asleep, except much, much stronger this time. He smiled slightly, his sense of smell seeming to grow sharper as his other senses dulled, particularly his sense to touch. He could barely feel his wounds. He smiled, yawning. He hadn't slept long, apparently. His head lulled to the side.

Pain shot through him, white-hot and flooding him so fast as his let his head fall to the side that he instinctively snapped it back the other way, even sharper pain shooting through him, this time earning a shout. His eyes flew open and he stilled, staring at the reflection of himself in the mirrored window before him. Behind him, and all around him, judging by the nearly matching scenery before him, massive vines as thick as trees, as well as actual trees grew and filled the area, forming a sort of clearing before him, with the mirror being the only other thing in the clearing. Beast Boy didn't care about that. He stared at himself. He was standing spread-eagle with vines wrapped around his arms, legs, torso, and neck, except, when he looked at his arm, finding he could just barely turn his head without unbearable pain, though it still hurt, He saw that the vines wrapping around his arms burrowed into them at seemingly random points. His skin bulged where they continued under them.

Beast Boy looked back at the mirror, terror flooding him. He kept his mouth closed and his body still. He couldn't shift, not only because of the wounds he still had on his torso, which he only now realized was unbandaged and had roots growing _out_ of the wounds, but because the roots would kill him. He swallowed just as the ground before him broke open, vines reaching out before a single large one rose out of the gap with a woman sitting on top of it. The smell tripled in strength and Beast Boy stared at the woman, feeling an oddly comforting fog blanket his mind.

The woman stepped off of the root, petting it like it was an animal for a moment before it sank back into the ground. Beast Boy took in the sight before him. The woman had pale green skin, somewhere in between green and white, with thin vines wrapping around her legs from the tops of her bare feet, up over the curve of her calf, past her perfectly formed thighs to the spot her long supple legs met where there was a single poison ivy leaf covering her, barely, then continued up from there, over the curve of her hips, thinning to maybe one or two reaching up the sides of her flat bare stomach to the curve of her breasts where she once again had poison ivy leaves as covering, this time one much, much smaller one per breast, the entirety of the leaf fitting on her breast and still having breast be visible all the way around, a fact Beast Boy's fogged up brain took a long minute double and triple checking. there were more vines reaching from her wrists up her slender arms and then stopping just below her shoulders. Her eyes were glowing emerald green and her hair seemed to glow fire engine red compared to her skin.

"Hello," the woman said, her voice oddly melodic and falling on Beast Boy's ears like silk, making his mind numb even more. "Do you like what you see?"

Beast Boy nodded, wincing at the slight pain it caused but the clarity the pain brought him was wiped away instantly as the woman smiled, dazzlingly white teeth exposed for a moment from behind the luscious lips. The woman slowly ran her tongue over her lips and Beast Boy found his eyes following it, tracking the tongue at the same time as he tracked every muscle contraction her body made as she moved, hands slowly running up her sides, past her breasts, and then to her hair.

"Normally, my babies would have killed you by now," the woman said. "But for some reason, I find you...interesting."

Beast Boy's heart skipped a beat. Interesting? Him? She must be mistaking him for something else.

"You are the changeling, are you not?" she asked, hands trailing back down her body, to her hips, which shifted slowly, sensually, to the side as they did. "The one who can become any animal he wishes? Any of nature's beautiful creatures?"

"Yes," Beast Boy said, barely able to find his voice.

His heart skipped a beat again as the woman smiled again. God she had a beautiful smile. Something nagged at the back of Beast Boy's mind but he pushed it away, focusing his senses on the enchanting woman before him.

"I thought you might be," she said. "How can you do it? How did you become one with nature, like me?"

"Accident," Beast Boy said. "It was supposed to cure a disease."

"Well, it cured more than one," the woman said.

Confusion briefly registered in his brain but was swept away in moments. She was probably right.

"For all their faults, it would seem that they at least got it right with you," the woman continued. "Now you are no longer a part of that wretched cancer on Mother Nature's beautiful planet. You're better than those humans."

The ghost of an emotion tried to fight its way to the front of his mind but was smothered barely after registering as being there.

"Tell me, what's it like?" she asked, hands once again trailing over her body.

This time, however, her right only travelled so far as to rest on her right inner thigh as her left trailed up to her left breast. Beast Boy's eyes watched it the entire way, mind barely comprehending that she had asked him something.

"Natural," Beast Boy finally said as her hand slowly brushed over her breast then started back down just as slowly. "Exciting. It feels right sometimes."

"Yes," she practically purred, licking her lips again. "You understand. You are more than human. You are an animal. Beauty created by Mother Nature to embody the perfection of every animal she has made."

His chest swelled with pride. Getting compliments from someone as beautiful and entrancing as her was amazing. But one thought was dominating his mind as her tongue yet again slid over her lips. She was being selfish. He wanted a taste too.

Her eyes trailed over his body slowly, tongue running over her lips almost constantly. Then, she smiled.

"I've made my decision," the woman said. "I'm going to keep you. It has been a very long time since I've been able to be with anyone. There simply is no one like me. Until you. I'm going to keep you. You can be my pet."

His chest shriveled. Is that all she wanted.

"My mate," the woman said.

Beast Boy's heart skipped a beat and his eyes quickly roved her body again.

"Would you like that?" the woman asked, earning a nod.

Beast Boy winced as the vines tugged at his flesh, a drop of blood rolling down his neck. His brain cleared slightly. Something was off. He felt like he should remember something, but he couldn't quite see it.

"Do you know my name?" the woman asked.

He should. He knew he should. Something about plants. He knew it was something about plants. Pain. Pain helped him think. He yanked his head to the side, shouting in pain as the woman took a step back, surprised. He sucked in a pained breath as he settled back into the usual position, eyes squeezed closed. Plants. Plants. Something about plants. Lily? Daisy? No. His thoughts ceased as an unbelievably soft hand touched his cheek, gently making him look up into her glowing green eyes.

"It's Ivy," the woman whispered, her face hovering barely more than an inch from his.

He could reach her. He knew he could. It would hurt, but it'd be worth it. Something about the name clicked, even through the haze. Ivy. Ivy. Poison Ivy. Where did he know that from.

He let his head fall, a steady flow of pain surging through him, the gears in his head slowly beginning to turn at a stuttering pace. Poison Ivy. Plant control. Something to do with Batman. Girlfriend? He hoped not. Ex? Maybe. He hadn't researched other heroes for a couple years. Not since the Doom Patrol. Poison Ivy. Poison Ivy. Something about dust, he remembered. He seriously doubted she was a housemaid. Dust. He remembered something about dust that made it a bad idea for guys to be around her. What was it?

He growled in annoyance at his lack of memory and yanked on an arm. Pain surged through him, clearing the fog a lot more than he expected. Pheromone dust.

"Poison Ivy," Beast Boy said, keeping his eyes shut, trying to breathe as little as possible. "You use pheromone dust to trap men so that you can..."

He couldn't remember what she did. Her hand cupped his chin, lifting it.

"So that I can...what?" Ivy asked, her lips so close to Beast Boy's that he could feel her breath against his own, and the smell that had been fogging his brain the entire time he was there was suffocatingly strong, sending him practically to cloud nine.

"I...I don't..." he trailed off, eyes fluttering open and staring into her glowing ones.

"Would you like to know?" Ivy asked.

Beast boy nodded.

"I show them nature," Ivy said seductively.

Beast Boy's eyes flicked down to her lips and back. So close. Not even an inch away now. He could probably reach her without even pulling at the vines, if she would just let go of his chin. And she did, but only after moving her head. Fortunately for Beast Boy, or maybe unfortunately, she moved it to his neck, her tongue catching a drop of blood oozing from one of the cuts before slowly trailing up the side of his neck. She pulled away after another moment and smiled.

"You taste very good," Ivy smiled, licking her lips, Beast Boy swallowing hard at the sight.

Her eyes narrowed as a knowing smile spread over her face.

"You look troubled," Ivy said. "I suppose I'm not being fair, am I? Do you want a taste?"

"Yes," Beast Boy managed to say, just as something at the back of his mind began to scream.

Ivy smiled, leaning forward, stopping when her lips were once again just more than an inch from his.

"Then you have to make me a deal," Ivy said. "I've grown lonely being the only one to truly understand nature. I was thinking of showing Harley the truth, so that she may join me, but even then, it would be nice to have you around as well. Tell me that you'll stay with me, and you may taste whatever you like. However much you like."

He swallowed hard, opening his mouth just as a thought forced its way to the front. But it didn't make sense. His mind had shouted Raven. But why that one animal? He could be any bird her wanted, either smaller, slower, larger, faster, anything. A raven really wasn't that special.

"I'll..." Beast Boy trailed off, brain fighting to make him remember something.

"What's wrong?" Ivy asked, hand cupping his cheek, thumb brushing over his lips, restoring and amplifying the fog several times over. "I thought you wanted a taste. Tell you what. I'll let you have this one for free. It'll help you make up your mind."

She moved her thumb out of the way, slowly leaning back in. Beast Boy felt himself reach toward her. Pain lanced through him.

 _RAVEN!_ His brain screamed instantly.

Rage exploded through his body, clearing the fog entirely just as instinct kicked in and he roared, the sound several dozen times louder and deeper than it should have been, accompanied with a jet of flames. He wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but one split second Poison Ivy was less than an inch from kissing him, and the next he was unleashing a jet of flames and she was on the opposite side of the room, unscathed and shielded by a wall of now burning vines.

"What the hell was that?" Ivy demanded.

"There's something you need to know about me," Beast Boy said. "Well, two, I guess. First, I'm spoken for, so you'll have to go and sulk back in Arkham. And second, I'm not just Mother Nature's animals. I'm _any_ animal. Like a dragon, for example."

Then, he turned, unleashing more flames onto the vines holding him, the flames racing along them and into him instantly.

 _Please don't be committing suicide, please don't be committing suicide,_ he chanted in his head

Fear flooded him out of nowhere. No, not fear. Unbridled, unrestrained terror.

 _Beast Boy!_ Raven's voice shouted in his head.

Beast Boy smirked, even as white-hot liquid agony flooded through him, his body now completely engulfed in flames. He could practically hear Raven shouting at him already. Then, Beast Boy felt his pain stop altogether, and the flames around him turned green. then, they sank into him and he looked down his flaming green beak at his flaming green body.

 _Phoenix, yes!_ Beast Boy thought. _Thank God that worked._

He looked up at Poison Ivy who was backing away slowly, terror written all over her face. Beast Boy shrieked, then exhaled a stream of pure white flames straight upward, the flames exploding through the foliage above them, igniting everything and reaching a hundred feet into the sky before going out. Beast Boy let the stream end, absorbing the flames around himself, leaving only the burnt husks of trees behind, then shifted again, becoming a flea and flying over Poison Ivy before becoming a guerrilla and smashing his fists into the back of her shoulders as he fell, knocking her unconscious.

Then, he shifted back just as Raven shot out of the ground, four glowing red eyes shining from her uncovered face. However, just as she arrived, the eyes reverted back to normal and she stared at Beast Boy and Poison Ivy in utter shock.

"Rae?" Beast Boy blinked. "How'd you find me?"

"I...you...I'll explain that later," Raven said. "Who is that, and how are you healed?"

"I turned into a Phoenix," Beast Boy said. "Had to burn myself first, but it worked."

"You burned yourself!?" Raven snapped. "Are you insane!? What if it didn't work!?"

"I didn't have much choice," Beast Boy said. "She was using Pheromone Dust to control me and had vines burrowed under my skin. I couldn't shift into anything other than that."

"How did you burn yourself then?" Raven asked.

"Oh, I kind of...instinctively learned to breathe dragon fire without becoming a dragon," Beast Boy said.

Raven blinked in surprise before staring at Poison Ivy.

"Come on," she finally said. "Let's get you home. And her back to prison."

She encased Poison Ivy in black energy then Beast Boy, flying both out of the building they were in, an old botanical garden of some sort, apparently, then stopped by Arkham, dropping off Poison Ivy before flying both away, slipping into Wayne Manor by flying through the ground. She rose out of the floor with Beast Boy in his room, then landed and instantly threw her arms around him, breaking down into sobs. He sat on the bed, comforting her and sighing.

"It's alright," Beast Boy smiled. "It's over now."

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	14. Chapter 14

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

Revelations

Beast Boy's hand lightly combed through Raven's hair again. She had calmed down and was simply lying on his chest, hand over his heart, feeling his heartbeat. He looked down at her, one question still swimming around in his head.

"Hey Rae?" Beast Boy asked, Raven looking up at him. "How did you find me?"

"I..." She trailed off, staring into the distance again. "I think I was dreaming what you were going through. Or, rather, while I was sleeping, I was seeing it, from your point of view. I could feel every vine, every tug, the stab wounds. I could even feel the effects of the Pheromone Dust. I...I could hear every thought."

"You..." Beast Boy's eyes widened impossibly. "Oh God. Raven, I'm so sorry. I never-"

She cut him off with a kiss.

"I know," Raven said, smiling slightly. "I've seen a demon corrupt priestesses with abilities weaker than that Pheromone Dust. I could feel it too, remember? Anyway, When you thought my name near the end, I woke up. You weren't there so I started to look for you. Except, you weren't in the bathroom, so I began to look around outside the room just as I heard you yell my name."

"So, you can hear my thoughts," Beast Boy summarized. "Alright, then how did you find me so quickly? It was only...what three minutes between me yelling your name in my head and you showing up."

"I know," Raven said. "At first, I didn't understand why I was hearing you. Then I heard you say something about suicide and I got scared. I was terrified."

"I could feel that," Beast Boy realized. "I felt your fear. And I think I heard you shout my name too."

Raven nodded.

"I realized that in order for me to hear your thoughts, there had to be a link between us, so I used my powers to follow it and teleported to you," Raven said.

"So, how exactly did we get the link?" Beast Boy asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say the same way you ended up having my powers," Raven said. "When I gave you my blood. It must have...created and empathic and telepathic link somehow."

"I see," Beast Boy nodded. "Hey, when you saved me from Blitz, did you have to give me more blood?"

"No, why?" Raven asked.

"I was just going to say that I'd be a little more a part of you," Beast Boy chuckled.

Raven snorted.

"More like there's a little more of me inside y...uh...yeah, you'd be more a part of me," Raven said, tucking her bright pink face into his chest so that her hair could hide the blush, Beast Boy fighting his own back.

Beast Boy fought to keep his mind clear of any and all thoughts about that, not wanting them to travel across whatever link they now had. Then, a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, Raven?" Beast Boy asked. "is a higher IQ one of your powers?"

"No," Raven said. "Though, it might theoretically be a side effect of the link. I don't know. I've never heard of the link before, why?"

"I think you finally managed to smarten me up," Beast Boy grinned. "Enough that even Cyborg noticed. And I know what pheromones are."

Raven smiled and shook her head before sitting up, pulling him up as well.

"Alright, since you're healed, it's time to train you to use those powers I gave you," Raven said. "Blasting Blitz with them was great an all, and I'm definitely going to have to learn how to do that one, but you need control."

Beast Boy nodded, and they stood, walking out of the mansion to the back yard where Robin and the others were playing volleyball again.

"Hey guys," Robin said from the ref's seat. "Oh hey, you're healed. Want to play?"

"Actually, we're going to start training Beast Boy's powers," Raven said. "Is there a place we can break things and throw them around without drawing attention?"

Robin sat thoughtfully for a moment before nodding and dropping to the ground.

"Star," Robin said. "Time to fly."

Starfire flew over, picking him up and Raven picked up Beast Boy, Robin directing Starfire and Beast Boy and Raven following. After about ten minutes, they landed in a rock quarry and Robin turned to them.

"You can do pretty much anything here for the next week and not draw attention," Robin said. "After that week, there will be some workers coming here."

Raven nodded and Robin turned, nodding to Starfire who flew them back. Then, Raven turned back to Beast Boy.

"Alright, first up, meditation," Raven said.

"Wait, what?" Beast Boy asked.

"Meditation," Raven repeated. "You can't use the powers if you don't learn to tap into them intentionally."

Beast Boy nodded and they both sat crosslegged and closed their eyes.

"Focus you mind," Raven said. "Find the power."

"What's it feel like?" Beast Boy asked.

 _Similar to this,_ Raven's voice spoke in his head, an odd tickling sensation filling his mind as she spoke before vanishing.

He took a breath and focused, imagining his brain and searching for it. Nothing.

"You're being to literal," Raven said. "Don't literally look for your powers. You need to feel them. Like your own powers. How do you actually physically do it?"

"I think about what animal I want and it just sort of happens, I guess," Beast Boy said. "Never really thought about it. it's kind of instinct, and it feels natural."

"Alright," Raven nodded. "Well, my powers should be as instinctive as that, but will feel unnatural to you, since you're not half demon or Azarathian. Like the feeling you get when I teleport us."

Beast Boy nodded. He silently sat there, focusing, recalling the feeling of being teleported, as well as the feeling he got when Raven used their link to talk to him. A chill crawled up his spine and then stayed there.

"Look down," Raven said.

Beast Boy looked, seeing himself levitating a few inches off the ground.

"You learn quick," Raven smiled.

He smiled as well before dropping back to the ground, gasping and leaning forward to rub his injured tailbone. Raven grinned remembering the first time she had done that. After a couple of seconds, Beast Boy sat back and resumed his meditation, finding the power easier this time and lifting off the ground in seconds. As he meditated in silence, Raven picked her legs up into the air, adopting the same position and beginning to meditate as well. Finally, a couple hours later, Raven decided to move on.

"Alright," she said. "Ready to try using them?"

"Am I learning to fly?" Beast Boy asked hopefully, setting his feet down before he could fall.

"Flying is actually pretty tricky," Raven said. "So first, we're going to teach you to create shields and throw things. As well as shoot blasts of the energy."

Beast Boy nodded. Raven held her hand out, floating a stone over and setting it down.

"This is easy," Raven said. "Find the power, channel it through your arm, and then focus on the stone doing whatever you want it to."

Beast Boy nodded, holding out his power and focusing, only to slowly rise into the air, flipping slowly so he was upside down. Raven snorted in amusement, flipping him back over and he released his hold on his powers, landing lightly on his feet.

"Maybe a little trickier when you're not born with the ability," Raven smiled.

Beast Boy nodded.

"Don't you usually chant something when you use them?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, that chant's mostly for stronger spells, but I suppose it's worth a shot," Raven said. "It's 'Azarath Metrion Zinthos,' remember."

Beast Boy nodded holding out his hand and reaching out for his powers, the chill running up his spin then spreading down his arm, a single point on his palm tingling.

"Azarath Metriun Sinthus," Beast Boy poorly repeated.

A explosion of black energy shot out of the ground from below the boulder, obliterating it.

"Oops," Beast Boy blinked, staring at the crater it left. "Well, I could probably catch Blitz off guard with that."

"True," Raven nodded. "That you could. But if you want control, you need to get it right."

Beast Boy sighed, trying again, again pronouncing it wrong and blowing up the next boulder as well. He grumbled in frustration, holding his hand out when a though occurred to him as Raven set the next down. he knew how it was supposed to be said. He just couldn't say it. But she could. He focused on her saying it, the memory of it.

 _Azarath Metrion Zinthos,_ his memory of Raven chanted.

The boulder lifted off the ground. He swung his arm to the side and the boulder shot sideways, the black aura around it fading, and crashed into the side of the quarry.

"You did it!" Raven exclaimed. "That was great!"

"Thanks," Beast Boy smiled. "I just pictured you saying the chant."

Raven blinked in surprise before grinning. Just then, Starfire set Robin down and Beast Boy and Raven looked over at them.

"Alright, so plans have changed a bit," Robin said. "Since you two, mainly Beast Boy, has developed a bit of a habit for nearly getting himself killed basically any fight we get into, We're going to be staying here a bit longer than originally planned."

"We're extending our vacation?" Beast Boy asked hopefully.

"You're going to be training with me and Batman," Robin said.

Beast Boy's mouth dropped open as fear flooded him and then through the link to Raven.

"I need to be able to spend as much time as possible training his powers so he can gain control," Raven said.

"And you can," Robin said. "In between training sessions with me and Batman."

"He needs training to control them," Raven said. "He needs time. That won't be enough."

"You can barely control your own powers Raven," Robin said. "Forgive me for not putting a lot of stock in you teaching him to control his."

"I can control mine better than you'll ever know," Raven growled. "And that's exactly my point. I still struggle at times and I've been training them my whole life. Beast Boy's had his for a few days. When they awaken fully, he will probably destroy something valuable, and massive, until he learns to reign them in."

"Beast Boy," Robin said, head and mask not leaving Raven, as though daring her to challenge him. "Your training with me and Batman starts at five o'clock in the morning. Don't be late."

"Garfield, your training with me starts at five oh one," Raven said. "Be late and I'll drag you here myself."

"You don't have that authority," Robin said.

"You're right," Raven said. "But if I don't train him to control his powers, he'll probably blow up the batcave and Wayne Manor. Beast Boy, be here tomorrow morning."

"Enough both of you!" Starfire interrupted finally. "Friend Beast Boy should be allowed to decide, as it is _his_ training being discussed."

"Uh, thanks Starfire," Beast Boy said. "Robin, I'm going to train with Raven until I can control my powers. She's right about what would happen if I don't. She's been training her whole life to control them and she still has trouble sometimes."

"How can you expect someone that has trouble doing something they've been training for their entire lives to help you achieve any sort of success in less time."

"Because I'll have a teacher," Beast Boy said.

Robin considered then said, "You have one week."

"What?" Raven demanded. "I've been training my whole life and you expect me to get him as good as me in a week?"

"Beast Boy's not you," Robin said.

"Exactly," Beast Boy said. "Raven's better than me, and she is able to naturally activate her powers. I can't."

"One week," Robin said. "Then me and Batman will be training you."

And with that, he turned to Starfire who gave Beast Boy an apologetic look before flying Robin home.

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	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

Training

Day 3

Beast boy grunted with effort, hurling the boulder into the air, then releasing his grip and forming a shield. The boulder crashed down on the shield and smashed straight through before smashing on Raven's waiting shield.

"Better," Raven said. "Again."

"Rae this isn't working," Beast Boy said.

"Again," Raven said more forcefully.

He sighed, hurling another boulder before forming a shield. This time, the boulder passed through the shield without so much as a hint of an impact. Raven's shield blocked it yet again. Beast Boy sighed, sitting down.

"Beast Boy, it's been two days," Raven said. "We knew this would take time."

"Yes but we don't have time," Beast Boy said. "I've already blown up two hedges and last night's turkey."

"Oh come on, that was totally worth the look on Batman's face," Raven said.

Beast Boy grinned.

"True," Beast Boy sighed. "I just...wish there was a way I could feel what it's like without having to worry about messing up."

Raven stared at him a minute before slapping him upside the head.

"What?" Beast Boy asked.

"Beast Boy you're a genius!" Raven smiled.

"Wait, what?" Beast Boy blinked. "How?"

"I can do different things with my powers and show you through our link what it's supposed to feel like," Raven said. "That way when you do it, you'll know if you're doing it right or not."

"Hey good idea," Beast Boy smiled.

Raven nodded, closing her eyes for a moment before beginning to hover. A tickle in Beast Boy's head started up instantly before he began to feel what Raven felt through the link. Slowly, she began to perform tasks one at a time, Beast Boy beginning to copy her as she went. And as they did, He still messed up, but actually made progress this time.

* * *

Day 5

* * *

Raven slowly floated along, facing backward toward Beast Boy as he wobbled and lurched through the air. Then, he dropped. Raven swooped down, rolling over and catching him, wrapping her arms around him and he groaned.

"This is a lot harder than you make it look," Beast Boy said. "Or feel."

Raven smiled, rolling over and giving him a moment to get himself supported by his own powers again before flying away from him slightly. He wobbled for a moment before stabilizing. Raven smiled but waited. Excellent progress. The day before he couldn't even get himself to move around. Then, he wobbled severely once before plummeting. Again Raven caught him but this time flew back to the manor and landed in the back yard.

"That's enough for today," Raven said. "Let's pick it up again tomorrow, alright?"

Beast Boy nodded and they walked inside, arriving in the dining room just as Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler, finished setting the table.

"Perfect timing," Alfred said. "I was just about to go and tell everyone that dinner is ready."

"I'll get them," Beast Boy said, shifting into a blood hound and sniffing before rushing out the door and down the hall. After a few moments, he walked back in as himself with the others following, including Batman, free of his uniform as usual.

"It smells wonderful Alfred," Bruce said.

"Thank you Master Wayne," Alfred said.

He left the room and they all ate in silence. it wasn't unpleasant, just tense. They were all waiting for the conversation they knew was coming.

"How much progress?" Robin finally asked.

"A lot," Raven said. "But we still need more time. He's learning fast but a week isn't enough."

"Make it enough," Robin said, putting some more turkey in his mouth.

Beast Boy felt a tingle starting to travel up his spine but fought it back down, Raven glancing at him.

"I can't make it any faster than it is," Raven said. "He's already learned things that took me years to learn, but that doesn't change the fact that control takes time to acquire."

"You have forty eight hours," Robin said.

He stuck his fork in his mashed potatoes just in time for both that and his squash to turn into twin geysers, splattering Robin with food, Raven instinctively shielding everyone else and keeping it from making a mess of anything but Robin.

"See?" Raven asked.

"How much time would you need to get him decent control?" Bruce asked.

"Two weeks," Raven said. "In addition to the one we already had. If I can work on nothing but control with him for two weeks, he'll be as in control as I am."

"Wouldn't that be an improvement," Robin grumbled.

Bits of shredded turkey blew into his face like confetti. He took a steadying breath, using his napkin to wipe the mixture of foods off his face before fixing Beast Boy with a glare.

"If you'd stop pissing me off, maybe I'd stop helping you clear your plate," Beast Boy said. "The powers are tied to emotion, after all."

"No extra time," Robin snarled.

"You have your two weeks," Bruce said. "Make them count."

"This is _my_ team," Robin snarled.

"But you're currently in _my_ house," Bruce shot back. "And in _this_ house, I don't want things exploding every three seconds."

a pulse of black energy appeared around the orange on his plate and it shot into the air only for Bruce to catch it without looking away from Robin, setting it back on his plate.

"Sorry," Beast Boy said. "I'm trying."

"I know," Bruce said.

The rest of dinner was silent, and short. Everyone had pretty much lost their appetites after the argument and left, heading to their separate rooms for the night, Raven, as had become normal, sharing Beast Boy's. They lay down and Beast Boy wrapped his arms around Raven, smiling.

"Did I ever tell you you're amazing?" Beast Boy asked. "I doubt there's anyone else in the entire world that could make Batman change his plans."

"Probably not," Raven agreed, pushing herself up to smile up at him. "And yes, you have told me that. A few times."

"Just making sure," Beast Boy grinned.

She smiled and shook her head, then leaned down, kissing him. He kissed her back, pulling her down on top of him and Raven smiled, pulling his hands down beside his head and lacing their fingers. After a few seconds, he slipped his hands out of hers, moving them to the small of her back as one of hers cupped his cheek and the other rested itself over his heart. He felt her sudden sense of security and comfort as she felt his heart beating. He smiled as he felt it.

 _You really were scared weren't you?_ Beast Boy asked.

 _Yes,_ Raven replied. _More than I've been in my entire life._

 _I'm sorry,_ Beast Boy thought.

Raven smiled, pulling back a little and smiling down at him, Beast Boy staring at the tears glistening in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter now," Raven smiled. "You're alive and safe."

Beast Boy smiled and kissed her again. She kissed him back and they continued for several more minutes before Raven pulled back and lay her head on his chest. She looked up at him as Beast Boy chuckled.

"What?" Raven asked.

"A few days ago, you couldn't even smile without blowing something up," Beast Boy grinned. "Now you can laugh, cry, smile, and sleep in the same bed as me without breaking anything."

Raven blinked but realized he was right. It surprised her to think that just over a week ago she had been actively trying to drive him away so that she wouldn't be forced to show emotion, and now she expressed it openly. She smiled, laying her head back down.

"Your fault," she decided. "You bring it out in me whether I like it or not. And you took all my control issues when I gave you my blood."

Beast Boy laughed.

"Probably," Beast Boy agreed. "Maybe you were just so afraid then that it got you used to letting your emotions out without losing control."

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with that," Raven smirked.

Beast Boy smiled, running his fingers through her hair. After a few more minutes, both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Beast Boy thrashed against the restraints. Pain coursed through his body. He stared up at the faces, pleaded through his eyes, all his mouth being capable of letting out was a strangled cry of agony, barely above a gurgle. The blue eyes shifted to his then away, the person picking up another needle, injecting more unknown substances into him. The pain turned white-hot and he screamed. He thrashed. The restraints broke. He had claws. The person before him fell backward in fear.

Beast Boy roared, towering over the person, feeling the roar reverberate off of the walls and make the green hair covering his body vibrate. He briefly wondered what form he was in. He knew it felt like he was supposed to be something else. He roared again, taking a step forward only for a new person to appear before him, hands cupping his cheeks and forehead pressed to his. The pain vanished as a voice filled his mind, the lab around him and the person on the ground growing hazy.

 _Beast Boy, it's alright! It's a dream! It's alright! I'm here! I'm here. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. There's no danger here. It's alright. It's safe._

Beast Boy blinked, finding himself in a bedroom, one filled with priceless furniture and a California King mattress, and with his massive form pressing it nearly to the floor. Slowly, the hair began to recede, the claws shrinking back down, and his fangs shrunk back to normal. He began to shrink, slowly but surely reverting to his normal form, Raven still pressing her forehead to his. He fell to his knees on the bed, panting and feeling exhausted, as he always did after becoming the Beast.

"Sorry," Beast Boy sighed.

"It's alright," Raven smiled, pulling back before gasping, hands shooting to her side.

Beast Boy's eyes widened as he stared at the gashes in her side. They were deep and bleeding badly. Slowly, he raised his hands. She grabbed them, trying to stop him from seeing but she was too late. Blood was coating the fingers of his left hand.

"Rae...I...I didn't..."

"I know," Raven smiled, healing herself then cupping his cheek, making her look at him. "I know you didn't mean to. You caught me off guard, that's all. I'm fine. See?"

"But I could have...I...I hurt you!" Beast Boy said, scrambling away from her. "I...I can't...It's not-"

"Garfield I'm fine!" Raven said, scooting closer and taking his face in her hands. "I'm fine. You didn't do any lasting damage, except to my leotard. I promise you, you will never do anything to me that I can't undo. I can handle your Beast side. I was just caught off guard because the pain reached me through the link and I was so busy trying to find out what was wrong that I didn't notice you shifting until you were done. Beast Boy, it's fine."

"It's not fine!" Beast Boy snapped. "I...I hurt you. I...I lost control over a stupid dream and...we can't-"

SLAP! ! !

"Don't. You. Dare." Raven snarled. "You are _not_ breaking up with me because of this. I'm not hurt, Garfield. I don't care about a scratch. I've had worse a dozen times over. Hell, a dozen of me died the day you saved me from the mirror. I remember every second, every bit of pain from each of those deaths. What you did is nothing, means nothing. I'm not letting you go because of a bad dream. I can take care of myself, and I can restrain you if it happens again."

"I..." Beast Boy stared at the bed and Raven pulled him into a hug.

"You're not leaving me, Beast Boy," Raven whispered. "Just accept it so we can go back to bed. I was having a nice dream of feeding my father to a wood chipper."

Beast Boy gave a small, weak laugh, before his arms finally wrapped around Raven.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "And thank you."

Raven nodded, pulling back and staring into his eyes. Through them and the link both, she could see his plan.

"I'm not letting you do it," Raven said. "I'll follow you. You can run wherever you want and I'll be by your side for all of it."

"Why?" Beast Boy asked. "Why are you so sure I won't hurt you again?"

"Because I know you Beast Boy," Raven said. "I trust you."

"Why?" Beast Boy asked. "Why trust me even after I nearly ripped your intestines out?"

"Because I need you," Raven said. "Because you're everything to me. You're my entire world. You forced me to feel emotions, and to actually live instead of hiding from life. So now I'm going to force you to do something. I'm going to force you to not give up on us just because of a bad reaction to one nightmare. I'm not ready to give up on us, so you're not either."

Beast Boy smiled and finally nodded, kissing her, then laying back down. Raven reached up, brushing her thumb lightly down his forehead and Beast Boy fell into a dreamless sleep instantly. Raven smiled, kissing him lightly, then stood, walking to the closet and changing into a fresh leotard before opening the door, finding the rest of the Titans waiting.

"It's handled," Raven said. "He had a nightmare. I fixed it."

"Were you hurt?" Robin asked.

"Do I look hurt?" Raven asked.

Robin stared into her eyes for several minutes before nodding curtly. Then, he turned, walking away. Cyborg sighed, rubbing his human eye.

"Is he alright?" Cyborg asked.

"He's fine," Raven said. "I'm looking after him. He'll be fine."

Cyborg nodded and walked away as well before Starfire turned to Raven.

"How bad was it?" Starfire asked.

"What?" Raven asked.

"The injury," Starfire said.

Raven stared at her.

"How...how did you know?" Raven asked.

"You have some blood left on your right hand," Starfire said.

Raven glanced down at it and hid it behind her back.

"Just a scratch," Raven said. "I'm fine. Thanks for not saying anything."

"You are most welcome," Starfire said. "Goodnight Friend Raven."

"Goodnight Starfire," Raven said.

Starfire floated off and Raven shut the door, wiping the blood on her ruined uniform then teleported it away to the dump in Jump City. Then, she sat on the bed beside Beast Boy, resting a hand against the top of his head, thumb lightly stroking his forehead.

"We're going to have to train the link, now," Raven said. "Can't have you kickstarting any more nightmares for me. Good thing we have two weeks."

She kissed him lightly then lay her head on his chest, pulling the covers back up and drifting back off.

* * *

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	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters. So, I don't think I ever remembered to say it, but the idea for Raven and Beast Boy's "link" I got from the Orange Colored Cliffs series. I highly suggest you read it. It's great. Also, the training Beast Boy receives from Robin and Batman was inspired, and extremely influenced, by Getting Greener. Also an excellent story that I would recommend, though it's only part of a series.

* * *

Beat Down

Beast Boy opened his eyes, swallowing hard before landing lightly on his feet and walking to the concealed entrance of the batcave, behind an old grandfather clock in one of the many lounge rooms in the manor. He walked down the stone steps in silence until he reached the cave, finding Batman waiting, Robin standing of to the side, both wearing their costumes now.

"Almost late," Batman said.

"I'm three minutes early," Beast Boy said.

"Exactly," Batman said. "You only made it by three minutes."

Beast Boy inwardly groaned, remaining silent in reality. This was going to be a very long training trip. He sighed, stepping up to the sparring ring Batman was waiting for just as the others arrived, standing around to watch, Starfire floating over to Robin. Robin had been unhappy with the extension, and even more angry that Beast Boy lost control of his own powers, but after a couple of days, he had calmed down and apologized for being an ass. Beast Boy was glad his friend was feeling less like a dictator.

"Quit stalling," Batman said. "I need to see what you can do. And no using either of the power sets you possess."

Beast Boy nodded, stepping into the ring. Batman didn't say go. He didn't hesitate. And he didn't hold back. A moment later, Beast Boy jerked awake, his head screaming in pain and his nose burning as Batman pulled the smelling salts away. He put them away and readied himself again. Beast Boy pushed himself up then crouched, adopting a karate position, one of the few things that the Doom Patrol had succeeded in was drilling martial arts into him, even though he didn't really need it.

Batman motioned for Beast Boy to attack and Beast Boy made no move to. So instead, Batman lunged, throwing a lightning quick cross. This time, however, Beast Boy was ready and spun out of the way. Just as he did, Batman's opposite knee crashed into his side, lifting him off the air. Then, Batman caught him by the upper arm, slamming him back to the ground. Beast Boy groaned, beginning to stand just as pain shot through his body. A moment later, smelling salts revived him again.

Again Beast Boy stood, again Batman attacked, and again Beast Boy went down hard only to be revived by smelling salts. It was never the same technique that knocked him out either. Roundhouse kick, hook kick, jab, cross, palm strike, axe kick, uppercut, elbow, push kick to the side of the head, throws. Batman knew countless ways to incapacitate. And as a result, three minutes of the "sparring match" left Beast Boy riddled with cracked ribs, a crushed nose from an elbow, a twisted ankle, and a broken arm hanging limply from his shoulder.

"That's enough!" Raven said. "You've proven your point. He can't beat you. Enough already."

"It's alright, Raven," Beast Boy said, using his good hand to push himself up. "I'm fine."

"The hell you are!" Raven snapped. "Look at yourself."

"I've looked worse," Beast Boy smiled. "Besides. I'm not done."

He lunged, throwing a roundhouse kick at Batman who leaned back just as Beast Boy's other leg swung its heel up at his head in a windmill kick. Batman ducked under it then stepped forward, planting an uppercut solidly to Beast Boy's chin, dropping him onto the ground again. And so, the "fight" continued. After a grand total of around ten minutes, Batman held the smelling salts under Beast Boy's nose and received only a low groan as a response.

"Now it's enough," Batman said. "Heal him."

Batman turned, walking to the super computer with Robin while Raven knelt beside Beast Boy, healing his nose first, then the arm, then ankle, then ribs, then the bruises and swelling all over his body. Finally she finished and his eyes fluttered open before he groaned, looking around.

"Good," Batman said. "Now that you're up-"

"He's done for the day," Raven said. "That was unnecessary and excessive and he's done for today."

"It wasn't unnecessary or excessive," Robin said. "Batman only trains those with the spine to keep going no matter how hard it gets."

"And so to test that he had to beat Beast Boy into a bloody mess!?" Raven snapped. "No! Beast Boy may be healed but he's still exhausted from the fight!"

"It's alright, Rae," Beast Boy spoke up, pushing himself to his feet, swaying for a moment before steadying himself. "I can keep going."

"Good," Batman said. "As I was saying. You're going to go and change into something without blood then rest. Tomorrow you're going to be being tested."

"On what?" Beast Boy asked.

"Everything," Batman said before walking out of the room.

Beast Boy looked to Robin.

"Strength of individual muscles and muscle groups, reflexes, sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste," Robin listed. "Literally everything you can test a human on."

Beast Boy nodded and Robin turned, walking away. Beast Boy sighed, running his hand down his face and groaning.

"You don't need this," Raven said.

"No, I don't," Beast Boy said. "But my transformations are based off of my actual form. If I'm out of shape as me, I'm out of shape as a guerrilla. If I'm as fit and badass as batman, imagine that with a guerilla's strength."

Raven sighed and shook her head.

"Besides," Beast Boy said. "Batman knows everything. Maybe he can help with my other problem while he's beating me into shape."

"Or out of shape," Raven said.

Beast Boy chuckled and nodded.

"If nothing else, I'll learn to fight properly rather than relying on being unpredictable," Beast Boy said.

"But that's why you're so good," Raven said.

"Well now I'll be good in more ways than one," Beast Boy said.

Raven sighed.

"There's no talking you out of this is there?" she asked.

"Nope," Beast Boy grinned. "This is happening."

Raven sighed but nodded.

"Then we need to keep your control training up," Raven said. "When you're tired or stressed it'll be easier for you to lose control. You're about to be both, a lot."

Beast Boy nodded and followed her back out of the Batcave.

* * *

"General strength is first," Robin said. "Max weight on the bench, no powers."

Beast Boy nodded and lay down, Robin loading the bar, then grinning at him.

"Since I already do these tests as training, want to up the weight?"

"Gotta look good for my girl," Beast Boy said.

"With a forty five on each end, you aren't looking good for anybody," Robin smirked, adding a twenty five to each end. "Don't kill yourself."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes then swallowed before lifting the bar. He lowered it almost to his chest, then pushed. Nothing. Harder. Nothing.

"Wow," Robin grinned. "I bet she's real impressed."

Beast Boy shot him a dirty look, gritting his teeth. Then, grunted in effort and shoved the bar back up, setting it on the rack.

"More," Beast Boy said.

"More will kill you," Robin said.

"More," Beast Boy repeated.

Robin shrugged, taking the twenty fives off and adding forty fives.

"Don't drop it too fast," Robin said. "You'll crush your ribs if you aren't careful."

Beast Boy grumbled a response before lifting the bar. And dropping it. He formed a cushion of Dark energy over his ribs, softening the blow, then growled in effort, the bar slowly rising back up, shaking as it did. Finally, Beast Boy put it back on the rack and grinned up at Robin.

"Don't say it," Robin said.

"More," Beast Boy grinned.

Robin shook his head, smirking and adding tens.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Robin shrugged.

Again Beast Boy used dark energy to spare his ribs before pushing. His arms shook and the bar jerked up an inch then dropped half. He grit his teeth. he refused to look weak. Well, weaker than he already did. He pushed again and the bar began to rise unsteadily. Then, he slammed down on the rack and Beast Boy let his arms fall.

"More?" Robin asked.

"What are you trying to kill me?" Beast Boy asked. "Your turn."

Robin chuckled, taking the tens off and adding two more forty fives each end then a set of twenty fives. Then, he lay down, taking the bar off the rack and lowering it to his chest, then slowly pushing it back up. Beast Boy, waiting at the head of the bench as a guerrilla, watched as the bar began to shake at the top. Then, it bounced off of the end of the rack and dropped, Beast Boy catching it and easily lifting it back into place.

"Shut up," Robin grumbled. "I had it."

Beast Boy simply grinned as Robin moved them to the next set, tricep extensions. Once again, Beast Boy started out slightly higher than normal then progressed at an admittedly unsettling rate. The same was true for every other muscle group there was a weight to lift for. Finally, they reached core, in which they had to hang from a bar with their legs out in front of them as long as possible. In this one, Beast Boy simply grinned. He had the advantage here, thanks to spending so much time as a monkey. Sure enough, after roughly five straight minutes, Robin's legs finally dropped and he dropped to the ground, groaning in misery.

"Looks like...we found...something...I'm better...at," Beast Boy gloated, face screwed up in effort.

Robin glared up at him just before Beast Boy's forearms, which they had tested just before hand, gave out and he dropped, groaning in pain as he landed on his tailbone.

"Yeah," Robin grinned. "Comic relief."

Beast Boy laughed and groaned at the same time and Robin lay on his back, beginning to laugh as well. Then, he sighed, standing and helping Beast Boy up.

"Now, what power were you using?" Robin asked.

"I wasn't," Beast Boy said. "I promise you I wasn't."

"We'll see," Robin said. "But I can tell you, no one progresses like that."

Beast Boy shrugged. "What's next?"

"Lunch," Robin said.

Beast Boy raised a fist and let out a severely unmotivated "woo" before his hand fell and he bent forward, panting and holding a hand on his stomach.

"I don't know if I can eat right now," Beast Boy said.

"You better," Robin warned. "Come on."

Beast Boy nodded and followed Robin up out of the Batcave to the dining room, arriving just as the others stepped into the room, the table already piled high with food. Beast Boy and Robin almost instantly dug into the food like it was a race, Cyborg hurriedly snatching as much as he could for himself, Raven, and Starfire. Then, they watched Beast Boy curiously as he tore into a massive plate of tofu, salad, tofurkey, and other vegetarian foods. On the other end, Robin had two full chickens on his plate, ripping pieces off and shoveling them into his mouth.

"Well, I suppose that answers the question of whether or not it's hard training," Cyborg said.

"This is nothing," Robin said around a mouthful of turkey.

Beast Boy froze, staring at Robin before returning to his meal. Finally they both stopped and Robin leaned back, sighed, stretched, then stood.

"Alright," Robin said. "Now that we've eaten, time for senses and reflexes."

"Alright," Beast Boy nodded.

He began to stand just as Robin launched himself over the table at Beast Boy. Beast Boy spun, dropping into a low crouch and Robin flipped, landing on the chair and tipping it backward, stepping gracefully to the ground just before Beast Boy crashed into him, slamming him to the ground and putting him in an arm bar.

"Good enough?" Beast Boy asked.

"No," Batman's voice said from behind Beast Boy.

He turned and froze, finding Batman standing directly behind him, a batarang to his throat like a knife.

"Awareness, fail," Batman said. "Reflexes, average. Instincts, slightly above average. Creativity, fail. Take him to the range."

Robin nodded as he stood and led the other Titans out of the room then to the Batcave then through a side passage to a shooting range. He passed Beast Boy a white jumpsuit and Beast Boy put it on over his clothes then walked out five hundred yards. He turned and looked back toward Robin just as Robin aimed a rifle at him. His jaw dropped.

A sound like a loud puff of air reached his ears and he turned sideways, making himself as thin as he could just as a red streak whistled past, an inch from his stomach. Paintballs. He turned to face Robin again and Robin grinned, beginning to fire while walking forward. He left a couple of seconds between shots, and Beast Boy was able to dodge them for several hundred meters. At three hundred fifty away, one grazed his right shoulder. At three hundred, one hit him in the shoulder. At two, he got hit with four or five. Then by one hundred, he couldn't dodge them and was simply standing there getting painted. Robin finally took pity on him and stopped shooting, resting the rifle on him.

"Good," Robin smirked. "Hearing next."

Beast Boy nodded and followed Robin off the range, taking the suit off before they all left, Cyborg grinning.

"Go ahead, say it," Beast Boy sighed.

"That was fun to watch," Cyborg smirked.

"I bet it was," Beast Boy grumbled.

Raven slipped her hand into his and he smiled. He was glad she was there. Otherwise he'd have lost control by now, probably. Robin opened the door to a small room with a set of headphones and a pair of small black cylinders with red buttons.

"When you hear a tone, press the button on whichever side you hear it from," Robin briefly explained.

Beast Boy nodded, sitting down and putting the headphones on, picking up the remotes and closing his eyes. Then, he waited. Ten minutes later, he stepped up behind Robin, staring at his chart. Three times average. Smelling was next. Five times average. Sight was twice what was considered perfect. Touch was somewhere between above average to highly above average. It was tough to gage. Lastly, they did taste. And again, it was double average.

"Alright," Robin said. "We're done for today."

"Thank God," Beast Boy sighed.

"Which means it's time for us to start," Raven said.

Beast Boy sighed and nodded.

"Looks like Grass Stain's going to be busy," Cyborg grinned as Beast Boy and Raven flew out through the ceiling. "I call the Game Station!"

And with that, the other three sprinted out of the room, heading for Beast Boy's.

* * *

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	17. Chapter 17

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters. don't actually know much of the specifics of Beast Boy's past, only bits and pieces.

* * *

Pain

Beast Boy flipped through the air, crashing down hard once again. For nearly fifteen minutes, Batman had been beating him senseless under the guise of sparring. Beast Boy hated sparring with Batman. It hurt. The day had definitely been worse than the tests. After a nice long warm up of fifty laps around a mile-long path nearby, they had moved into strength training, in this case meaning Beast Boy strapped on a hundred fifty pound vest, twenty pound forearm sleeves, and thirty pound shoes before doing various exercises like running, pushups, squats, jumping jacks, etc. Then, Robin had spent about four hours drilling Beast Boy in numerous martial arts, but mainly sticking to the animal styles of Kung Fu as well as Brazilian Capoeira. Beast Boy had done horribly at Capoeira, but had picked up the Kung Fu extremely well, thanks to his natural powers.

Once that was finished, Batman had walked in and given Beast Boy a book labelled, "Breakdancing for Dummies" and told Beast Boy to read it and teach himself to dance. Then, when Beast Boy had asked why, Batman had responded with, "I'm about to show you" and had promptly begun their sparring session, using only Capoeira, which apparently combined martial arts with dancing, making it ridiculously hard to predict, at least for Beast Boy.

Beast Boy pushed himself up just as Batman stood up straight and nodded.

"Enough," Batman said. "Robin, teach him to use a bo staff."

Robin nodded, picking up a pair of wooden staves and tossed one to Beast Boy. Beast Boy caught it, remembering the small amount of bo staff training Beast Boy had had drilled into him by Mento and then by Robin early in the Titans time together. He took a basic stance and Robin lunged, jabbing the staff at Beast Boy. Beast Boy knocked it away and Robin spun, smashing the other end into the back of Beast Boy's head. Then, as Beast Boy landed on his feet, Robin began to beat him senseless. Finally after nearly an hour, Robin finally stopped, putting the staves away.

"We're done for today," Robin said to Beast Boy, who was lying on the floor, panting.

"Okay," Beast Boy panted. "I'm just going to lay here."

Robin snorted, rolling his eyes and walking away as Raven walked over, kneeling beside him. She healed him silently before giving him a knowing look.

"I know," Beast Boy said. "Trust me I know. This training sucks. It's excessive, not entirely necessary, and it's dangerous now that I have your powers. But I want to do this."

"I know," Raven sighed. "That's why I haven't stepped in yet. But you know he doesn't care about anything but results. If he thinks that it's going to make you a better hero, or stronger, or whatever he's trying to make you, he will happily betray you."

"I know," Beast Boy nodded. "But it won't come to that. I have you to look out for me."

Raven smiled and nodded, helping Beast Boy to his feet.

"Let's go to bed," Raven said. "Clearly you need as much energy as you can get for this."

Beast Boy nodded and they walked back out of the batcave and to their room, the others having known to stay out. They both got into bed and Beast Boy was out in seconds. Raven lay there, head resting on his chest as she listened to his heart beat and his steady breathing. It seemed like forever ago that they had fought Blitz, and yet she was still terrified that she would lay down and hear nothing but silence.

She blinked and suddenly she was sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea. She looked around, feeling the cool breeze against her skin and smelling the sea. She hadn't realized she fell asleep. And she had no idea where she was. She looked around curiously just as a lime green raven landed on her crossed legs and shifted into a kitten, rubbing itself against her stomach. She smiled, stroking Beast Boy's back and scratching behind his ear.

"I take it you pulled me here?" Raven asked, Beast Boy purring loudly as a response. "Why?"

Beast Boy stopped purring, and remained still for a moment before stepping off of her and shifting back, sitting with his feet dangling over the edge. Then, he pointed to the side and Raven looked, seeing a small shack on the sea side, on a beach down below.

"I don't want to have any secrets between us," Beast Boy said. "But this is the one thing that I've never told anyone."

Three people stepped out of the shack. A man and woman and a small child. The child was blonde and had freckles across his cheeks, looking a lot like both of his parents. As she watched, the three played in the water before the boy ran off into the woods. The parents following only to sprint back with their son in his father's arms a few minutes later.

"I was bitten by a green monkey," Beast Boy said, shifting into a monkey. "He gave me a virus that only kills humans. To fix it, My family created a vaccine by combining the DNA of countless animals. By the time they finished, it was almost too late. But it worked. Of course, it had...side effects."

As he was speaking, the sky turned from night to day several times. Then, as he finished, the boy ran out again, now green and with green hair and pointed ears. And a tail.

"You had a tail?" Raven blinked.

"Still do, in a way," Beast Boy said. "I hide it the same way I hide my clothes when I shift. Anyway, it was a little while before I learned to use my powers."

Suddenly, the world shifted into a jungle, both of them seated on a tree as below them, the young Garfield Logan and his parents backed away from a cheetah. Then, suddenly, there was a green cheetah in front of the other, pouncing and scratching and biting at it. With a roar, the normal cheetah turned and fled and Garfield Logan shifted back to normal, staring up at his terrified parents. Then, he began to cry. The world shifted back to the cliff.

"It was an accident," Beast Boy said. "But I saved my parents. Then I began to practice every day. I wanted to be able to do it at will. But all I was ever able to turn into on command were birds. Then, one day, everything changed."

Raven looked down at the family to see the child playing in the water, chasing the tide as it went out, then running from it as it came back in. Then, it went out, and out, and out. Not stopping until it seemed to disappear, leaving a disappointed Garfield Logan behind.

 _"Garfield, darling, can I see you turn into a bird?"_ a woman's voice suddenly spoke.

Garfield Logan shifted into a bird.

 _"What a good boy you are,"_ a man's voice spoke. _"Garfield, your mother and I love you so much. We can't tell you how much. And we're so proud of you."_

 _"Garfield, do you see those cliffs over there?"_ the woman's voice asked as the mother pointed toward Raven, whose blood ran cold, understanding flooding her. _"Fly up there darling and see if you can see the water from up there, alright sweety? Your father and I are going to wait down here and surprise it."_

 _"Okay!"_ Garfield's voice replied.

The mother hugged him, the father joining in a moment later as Raven felt the ground begin to tremble.

 _"Always remember we love you so much, my dear sweet Garfield,"_ the mother said. _"Now fly!"_

Garfield shifted, flying up to the cliff and landing beside Raven, where Beast Boy was supposed to be, though he was gone. Then, he shifted back, standing on his toes and staring out to where the sea should be. Then, the water returned. A massive tsunami towering dozens of feet in the air rushing toward land. Garfield stared in wide-eyed wonder. Then, as it neared land, he turned to ask if his parents saw it, just in time for the tsunami to reach the shack, obliterating it and sweeping both it and Garfield's parents away in mere moments. Garfield screamed, falling to his knees and sobbing. He was young, but he understood. He was alone. He sat down on the cliff in the exact same spot Beast Boy had been and sobbed for a long while. Then, the sobbing stopped and Raven glanced over to see Beast Boy again, staring out at the now calm sea in silence.

"Garfield...I...I'm so sorry," Raven breathed. "I never..."

"It's alright," Beast Boy said. "What's done is done. I just wanted you to know. In case..."

"What?" Raven asked.

"Well, after my parents..." Beast Boy trailed off as the scene shifted again, this time becoming a sterile, blindingly white laboratory, with a young Garfield strapped to an examination table, a pair of doctors drawing blood.

"Can you restrain me and watch this at the same time?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes," Raven nodded, restraining Garfield's physical body. "This is what your nightmare was."

"Yes," Beast Boy nodded. "When people learned I could turn into animals, they wanted to...utilize, me."

"Weaponize, you mean," Raven said.

"Yes," Beast Boy nodded. "They ran experiments for weeks. Drawing blood, injecting things, cutting."

One of the doctors cut open the young Garfield's abdomen, but Beast Boy shifted it instantly.

"One day, they made a mistake," Beast Boy said as several needles were injected into the young Garfield's arm. "They made me shift."

Beast Boy's body began to spasm, a scream of pain ripping out of his lungs as Raven felt Beast Boy's physical body growing. She put a band over his mouth as well, holding him still, slipping her hand into Beast Boy's, both in the dream and in reality. On the table, the young Garfield was suddenly a guerrilla, breaking free instantly and grabbing the doctor, hurling him through the heavy metal door then roaring. Then, he was a bird, shooting past them and out of the facility.

"After that, I found the Doom Patrol and broke in, impressed them with my powers, and eventually joined them," Beast Boy said. "From there you already know."

Raven opened her eyes, staring into Beast Boy's, once again in his human form, his uniform only slightly ripped, which she fixed with her powers.

"Thank you for showing me," Raven said. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Beast Boy said. "It's not your fault. And like I said. What's done is done. I just wanted you to see it because Batman is going to be running blood tests tomorrow and...I don't know how I'll react."

"I see," Raven nodded. "I understand now why you always take a flu over a shot."

Beast Boy nodded. Raven let the information sink in as Beast Boy began to drift off again. Then, slowly, she followed.

* * *

Read and review.


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters. My joker is a combination of a few of them. Sort of.

* * *

Robbery

Weeks. For weeks Beast Boy had spent every waking moment training under Batman. In the mornings there were warmups, the easiest of them being mile-long laps on his hands followed by weighted cardio. After that, he would spend hours sparring with Batman and Robin, learning Kung Fu, Capoeira, Krav Maga, and a long list of other martial arts. After lunch, there would be hours upon hours of general strength, speed, agility, and reflex training. Then, after he was finished, whatever time remained would be spent training his psychic control and strengthening and learning to control the link with Raven. They had learned his powers were roughly three quarters as strong as Raven's. Finally, Beast Boy found himself going to the Batcave for a reason other than to train. An alarm. When they arrived, Batman was typing on a computer while a security feed from a bank played.

"The bank?" Robin guessed the moment the door opened, nodding to himself when he saw the footage.

"Yes," Batman said. "Batgirl is on scene."

"Who is it?" Robin asked, stepping up beside him and squinting at the grainy footage.

"Probably the worst team of criminals Gotham has ever produced," Batman said. "Deathstroke, Ra's al Ghul, and the Joker."

Robin stared at the screen as all three turned away from the wall.

"Who?" Beast Boy asked.

Batman pulled up several criminal files and pulled up the first picture, one Beast Boy instantly recognized.

"That's Slade!" Beast Boy said.

"Deathstroke, real name Slade Wilson," Batman said. "Master at hand-to-hand combat, expert swordsman, deadly accurate with a pistol, and notoriously hard to kill. He was trained by this man."

He swapped the image for a second, this one a man with grey hair around the sides of his head and in a ponytail then a tuft of grey hair on top of his head with a ring around it bald. He wore dark blue armor with gold highlights and a green cape. Strapped to his side was a katana with a golden tsuba with a spike reaching upward on both the front and back.

"Ra's al Ghul," Batman said. "Master of more than one hundred styles of martial arts, master swordsman, and more than five hundred years old. His life is extended by the use of Lazarus Pits, pits filled with a special kind of natural chemical that can restore life to the dying and extend their lives. Ra's al Ghul is among the most dangerous criminals alive. And finally, Joker."

He swapped the image for a third. This image was of a man with his face painted white, black around his eyes, green hair, and red across his lips then up his cheeks to give himself a comically large smile. beast Boy squinted before his eyes widened. Where the red stretched up his cheeks, he was actually scarred. he was also wearing a purple suit with a black tie, a green flower on the lapel, and a white undershirt.

"Joker is the single most dangerous criminal in Gotham," Batman stated. "He's a genius, a true psychopath, and has a sadistic sense of humor. He has fifty two diagnosed mental disorders and probably more than a dozen undiagnosed. He's skilled with a knife, an excellent shot, and even I know absolutely nothing about who he really is. His most common alias is Jack White."

"Wait, you said Batgirl was on scene," Robin said.

"She's being careful," Batman said. "Now, we need to get going. "Under no circumstance are any of you to engage Joker. Robin, you can divvy up the teams as needed, but I'll handle Joker, alone."

"Right," Robin said.

Batman nodded and Robin turned to the others.

"Raven, Beast Boy, you two handle Ra's al Ghul," Robin said. "Star, you and me will take Slade. Cyborg, you handle any civilians in-"

"Don't worry about civilians," Batman said.

"Why?" Robin asked.

"Because Deathstroke killed them all," Batman said. "They're piled in the corner of the room. Here, take these."

He handed out earpieces and everyone put one in.

"Batgirl, you there?" Batman asked.

"I'm here," Batgirl whispered. "They're putting something...wait, there's more."

Everyone turned to the screen just as two more people walked onto the screen. One was a female, standing about chest level to Slade, who she stopped beside. She was wearing a black suit like Slade's, orange gloves, orange knee-high boots with loose cloth around her shins, and a cloth mask over the top half of her face with the left side orange and the right black, two strips of cloth hanging from the back of her head. She held a pair of katana. The other was a boy slightly shorter than her, with messy black hair, a cold, emotionless-yet-somehow-angry expression identical to Batman's, and armor and a sword matching Ra's al Ghul's but with a red cape.

"Who are they?" Robin asked.

"I have no idea," Batman said. "Be careful Batgirl."

"I will," Batgirl said.

"Titans, go!" Robin said.

Raven and Beast Boy flew into the air and out through the roof of the cave instantly, Batman and Robin jumping into the Batmobile and Cyborg in the T-car, then Starfire flying after them. Once they were all outside, they began to head to the bank.

"They're trying to cut through the door but it's slow," Batgirl's voice said.

"Be careful Batgirl," Robin's voice said. "Don't let them spot you."

"I am," Batgirl said. "Wait, Deathstroke's leaving."

"He's what?" Batman growled.

"He's leaving," Batgirl said.

"What about his apprentice?" Batman asked.

"She's staying," Batgirl said.

"I don't like it," Robin said. "Slade never runs away."

"Focus on the bank," Batman said. "We'll handle Deathstroke when we're done there."

Just then a gasp rang out over the communicators.

"Batgirl report," Batman said. "Batgirl!"

"Babs!" Robin shouted. "Shit!"

"Me and Rae will go on ahead," Beast Boy said. "We'll stall for time."

Raven nodded and they sped up, streaking through the air before slowing to a stop over the bank and silently sinking into it, exiting into the main room in opposite corners, keeping in the shadows. Below them, the boy dressed like Ra's al Ghul was pressing buttons on a box attached to the safe door.

"Tie Batgirl up and throw her in the corner," Ra's al Ghul ordered Slade's apprentice.

She turned to glare at him before raising a sword to his throat. The meaning was clear: "I don't work for you."

"You impudent brat!" Ra's al Ghul snarled just as the boy's katana tapped her on the shoulder.

"By all means, give me a reason," the boy invited. "I'd live to slit your throat just to spite Deathstroke. But Grandfather has forbid it."

After a moment, the girl lowered her sword and the boy did as well.

"The device is ready," the boy said. "Just needs the activation code."

Ra's al Ghul stepped forward to activate the device just as a sphere of black energy shot out of the ground and slammed into his gut, launching him backward into the wall.

"Well, that certainly looked like it hurt," Joker said before laughing.

"What manner of sorcery was that?" Ra's al Ghul growled. "Girl, open the vault! The code is three nine two two eight."

For a moment, the girl glared at him. Then, she walked over, putting the code in. The door around the box began to glow cherry red before liquid metal began to run down the door as the device sank into it. Finally there was a loud clang on the far side and she pulled the door, opening it. Beast Boy glanced at Raven just as a black tentacle shot out of the room, hurling the device at Ra's al Ghul before knocking the girl away and grabbing the door, slamming it closed once again.

Everyone stared in stunned silence as Beast Boy floated to the ground, signaling for Batgirl, who was staring at him, to remain quiet. She nodded and Beast Boy touched down, grinning.

"Having some trouble?" Beast Boy asked, all four of the remaining criminals spinning toward him. "Maybe I can be of some use."

He raised a hand, black energy forming around it as the girl and the boy both readied themselves.

"Oh please," He snorted, waving a hand and sending a blast of dark energy into each of their chests, launching them backward into the wall. "I'm here for the old man."

"A shame you won't make it to me alive," Ra's al Ghul said. "Get him grandson."

"Of course Grandfather," the boy said, standing. "You're mine!"

He charged, slashing at Beast Boy only for Beast Boy to form a blade out of dark energy and block it, sensing surprise through the link. He shoved the boy's blade back and the boy jumped, flipping and kicking at Beast Boy. Beast Boy ducked under the kick and stood, delivering an uppercut to the chin and flipping the boy backward. The boy landed on his feet, his sword stabbing into the ground behind Beast Boy, then charged. Beast Boy formed a pair of tendrils of dark energy like whips, swiping at the boy rapidly only for the boy to near effortlessly avoid them, rapidly reaching Beast Boy and jumping, slamming a series of lightning fast kicks and punches to him before sending him flying backward and landing on his feet. Beast Boy crashed into a desk, skidding backward for several feet, taking the desk with him, before backflipping over the desk and landing on the far side, shifting into a guerrilla and catching the desk then shifting back, the criminals staring at him.

"What are you?" the boy demanded.

"One of a kind," Beast Boy said, punching his hand into the wall and shifting into a guerrilla again, ripping a length of pipe out of the wall then shifting back, spinning the pipe like a bo staff.

"Alright," the boy grinned, pulling his sword free of the ground. "Let's see what you can do."

Beast Boy sprinted forward, dropping to his knees and sliding under the first horizontal slash, sweeping the boy's feet out from under him before regaining his feet and spinning, driving the pipe into the ground where the boy's face had been, cracking the ground but missing his head as the boy rolled. Then, the boy shoved himself off the ground and toward Beast Boy, planting his foot in Beast Boy's gut, throwing him backward. Beast Boy flipped, driving the pipe into a wooden chair, tipping the chair backward and landing on his feet then slipping the pipe under one of the chairs arms and spinning, hurling the chair at Ra's al Ghul as he walked toward the vault. The girl stepped into the way, splitting the chair in one slash, the pieces smashing on either side of Ra's al Ghul as Beast Boy spun, blocking the boy's sword. Beast Boy spun, shoving the boy's sword away and swiping at him only for the boy to duck under the other end of the pipe, dropping his sword and beginning to slam his fists into Beast Boy rapidly. Finally, Beast Boy spun past one then reversed the direction of his spin, hooking a foot between the boy's and tripping him before shifting into a guerrilla, punching down at the boy, only for the boy to contort his body out of the way and flip, planting both feet in Beast Boy's face. Beast Boy recoiled, stumbling backward then shifting into a fly in time to avoid a punch, the boy looking around in surprise.

"This kid's like the perfect magic assistant," Joker said. "I like this kid."

Beast Boy got over the boy and shifted back into a guerrilla, dropping and swiping at him as he fell. The boy rolled out of the way then spun and leapt off of a desk, driving his fist into Beast Boy's face. Beast Boy shifted back to human and spun out of the way of a punch, throwing his own only for the boy to slam a roundhouse kick into his face, throwing him. Beast Boy slammed into the wall, sliding to the ground as the boy hurled a knife at him, the knife aimed for Beast Boy's eye. At the last second, Raven was suddenly in front of him, the knife contained in a sphere of dark energy.

"I think it's my turn," Raven said.

"Have at him," Beast Boy said.

Raven nodded just as the slowly-rotating knife was pointing back at the boy and let the sphere fade, the knife taking off again as though it had never stopped, the boy spinning, the knife scratching his armor.

"You're going to pay for that," the boy snarled.

He sprinted forward, grabbing his sword on the way, then leapt at Raven, slashing only for Raven to sink into the ground and Beast Boy to roll out of the way. Then, beast Boy flipped, kicking the boy's hilt, breaking the sword before a tendril of dark energy wrapped around the boy, hurling him into Ra's al Ghul. Then, the front of the bank burst open, criminals wearing clown-themed masks and carrying two by fours and lead pipes charging in. Beast Boy flipped to his feet as Raven grew out of the ground, power radiating from her eyes. Beast Boy shifted into a cheetah, speeding toward the criminals before shifting into a rhino, smashing through them as dark energy hurled others around the room. Once he had reached the center of the gang, Beast Boy shifted into an octopus, spinning and hurling gang members around. One pulled a knife and Beast boy shifted back, sidestepping a stab then knocking the knife upward and slamming his knee into the man's abdomen then an elbow into the back of the man's head, dropping him. he caught the criminal and shifted into a guerrilla, spinning and hurling him into a group of others then shifted back just as the boy flipped over a line of the gang members, hurling a knife at him.

Beast Boy spun out of the way of the knife, grabbing a pair of fallen lead pipes from the ground as the boy landed, grabbing a pair of his own. Then, they both charged, their pipes slamming into each other's rapidly as they fought, using the pipes like eskrima sticks, which Robin had personally drilled Beast Boy on even more relentlessly than bo staff training. The boy spun, swiping at Beast Boy rapidly but Beast Boy flipped over him, one pipe smashing against one of the boy's breaking his too, before Beast Boy slammed the other into the back of the boy's shoulder, making him drop the other. The boy spun, slamming a kick into Beast Boy's head and Beast Boy staggered to the side where a clown slammed a pipe into his gut. Beast Boy doubled over and the boy grabbed him in a choke hold, Beast Boy barely able to keep the boy's arm loose enough to breathe and keep his blood flowing, though it was a struggle. The boy may be younger than him but he had clearly been trained his entire life.

"It's over," the boy grinned. "While you and me were fighting, your girlfriend was fighting Deathstroke's little bitch."

The boy jerked his head to the side and the criminals parted, allowing Beast Boy to see Raven standing with a thin metal collar with a pair of blinking red lights on it around her neck.

 _Raven?_ Beast Boy called mentally. _What is that thing?_

"Notice anything?" the boy grinned. "That collar is something Deathstroke had his...contacts...acquire for him. It blocks all forms of supernatural powers. Like the ones you and your girlfriend have."

"Raven!" Beast Boy shouted, panic filling him as the Joker stepped up to her.

"Beast Bo-"

She was cut off by Joker's hand.

"You're very pretty," Joker said. "You remind me of my daughter. I loved my daughter."

Raven tried to pull away from him but his hand grabbed her by the top of her hair at the same time as both of Deathstroke's apprentice's swords crossed at hr throat.

"You seem nervous," Joker said. "Is it the scars? You wanna know how I got these scars?"

He pulled out a knife, slipping it into her mouth and Beast Boy began to frantically struggle against the boy's grip, almost getting away before the boy kicked him into the back of the knees, dropping him to the ground and getting him in an arm bar but allowing him to watch.

"My father was a drinker," Joker said. "And he drank _a lot_. One day, he came home crazier than usual-"

"Are you telling your drunk father one _again_ Joker?" Batman's voice asked. "You need to get some new material."

Joker looked to the side where Batman stepped out of the shadows.

"Let her go, now!" Batman ordered, holding up a small black cylinder with a red button at the top.

Joker began to laugh, pulling the knife out of Raven's mouth and doubling over. Finally he straightened up, grinning.

"Come on Batman," Joker smirked. "We both know you don't have the guts to blow this place up."

"Who said anything about blowing this place up?" Batman asked, pressing the button.

He tossed the device and it sent out an EMP, frying Raven's collar. Instantly, Raven dropped into the floor before rising behind the girl, grabbing her with dark energy and hurling her. Beast Boy grinned, suddenly remembering he had powers of his own, and sank into the floor. Just as the boy looked down, a guerrilla's fist shot out of the ground, crashing into his face and flipping him onto his back before Beast Boy shifted back, landing in front of the gang members as Robin landed beside Batgirl, cutting her free, and Cyborg landed in front of Ra's al Ghul with Starfire.

"It's over," Batman said.

"Is it?" Joker asked whipping out a gun and pulling the trigger, Batman flinching as a small flag with "BANG!" written on it extended from the barrel. "Whoops, wrong one."

Batman hurled a batarang, knocking the gun away from Joker before lunging at him. As he did, Beast Boy was plowing his way through the gang members as a T-Rex, mowing them down with his tail. Suddenly, the girl landed on his back, slashing him and Beast Boy shifted into a fly, dropping the girl to the floor before shifting back and landing on his feet and one hand, the gang members streaming past them only for Raven and Batgirl to meet them.

"So, you want to fight me now too?" Beast Boy asked. "What, was Raven too strong for you?"

The girl drew a pistol, Beast Boy forming a shield to block the bullets while also becoming a fly. Then, he let the shield fade and flew quickly up over her. Just as he was nearly in position, she jumped, slashing at him. he shifted into an ankylosaurus, his armor blocking the blade as he fell toward the girl. She let go of the sword and kicked off of him, avoiding being crushed and Beast Boy rolled off of the sword, shifting back to his human form and narrowing his eyes. Then, he grabbed a pair of pipes and charged. She fought back against him, her sword clashing with his pipes loudly for a couple of seconds before the sword cut through them. Beast Boy leapt back from a slash, his stomach splitting open before the boy caught him by the throat again, this time locking it in before Beast Boy could react. Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut, reaching back and grabbing the boy by the face. Then, a blast of dark energy exploded against the boy's forehead, throwing him away and freeing Beast Boy in time for him to block the girl's sword with a shield. He shoved the shield into her, throwing her backward as Ra's al Ghul slammed Cyborg into Starfire and Robin before charging at Raven and Batgirl.

Beast Boy transformed into a peregrine falcon, shooting through the air past the girls before becoming an ankylosaurus, curling into a ball and crashing into Ra's al Ghul. Ra's slipped under him before Beast Boy hit the wall and Beast Boy shifted back, flipping out of the way of Ra's al Ghul's sword before throwing a punch at him. Ra's al Ghul instantly swept the punch aside, kneeing Beast Boy into the air and driving his sword into the ground before beating Beast Boy around int the air for a moment then flipping and kicking in into the floor beside Raven.

Batgirl charged at Ra's al Ghul to help Robin and the others as both of the criminal children landed on opposite sides of Raven and Beast Boy. Both stood, readying themselves, Beast Boy facing the boy and Raven the girl, then charged. The boy ducked under Beast Boy's first strike and threw his own only for Beast Boy to become a rabbit. Then, he became a kangaroo, sitting back on his tail and slamming both feet into the boy, throwing him. Then, he shifted back as an unconscious Raven slammed into his back. He caught her and looked up as the girl fell toward them, sword first. Beast Boy shoved Raven aside, the girl's sword driving itself through his chest and she let go, taking a step back. Beast Boy dropped to his knees just as Raven sat up, staring.

"NO! ! !" Raven shrieked, four red eyes filling her face as dark energy began to shoot out of her, throwing the boy and the girl away instantly, ripping the sword from Beast Boy's chest and hurling it then beginning to hurl pieces of debris and corpses from the corner of the room, as well as gang members around the room.

A massive black tornado of energy formed around Raven as her scream of rage and pain filled both the room and Beast Boy's head. Beast Boy staggered to his feet and then began to stagger toward Raven just as a tendril of dark energy grabbed the girl, pulling her into the tornado, into Raven's line of sight. The girl's eyes were wide with terror, but Beast Boy raised an arm, forming a tendril of his own and pulling Raven to the ground, the tendril with the girl coming with her. Raven's eyes snapped around to Beast Boy and just like that the rage was gone, shock filling her expression.

 _Raven, let her go,_ Beast Boy urged mentally. _It's alright. I'm fine. See?_

He pulled the rip in his uniform wider to display his completely healed chest.

 _I healed it already,_ Beast Boy said. _I just needed the sword out first. So thank you._

Raven's red eyes slowly faded back to violet and the tornado of power faded, he debris and bodies in the air dropping to the ground as Raven set the girl on her feet then threw herself into Beast Boy's arms, sobbing. Beast Boy sank to his knees, smiling as he hugged her back, the girl staring in shock and confusion. Beast Boy gently ran his fingers through Raven's hair, glancing at Ra's al Ghul and Joker. Ra's al ghul was still fighting the three other Titans, who had completely ignored Raven's outburst, trusting Beast Boy to handle it. Batman, Joker, and Batgirl, however, were staring in shock.

"I'm sorry," Raven sobbed. "I almost...I..."

"It's alright Rae," Beast Boy smiled. "I'm fine. Now, let's clean up, shall we?"

Raven nodded, sitting up just as the boy stepped up behind Beast Boy, raising the girl's abandoned sword. Raven's eyes widened and Beast Boy spun. There was a flash as the sword caught the light from a streetlamp outside on the way down, then the clash of metal on metal. beast Boy blinked. The girl was standing in front of them, her sword blocking the boy's, her mask gone revealing her shoulder-length black hair.

"Why?" Raven blinked.

The girl glanced back at her then shoved the boy away, readying herself but pointing at Beast Boy and Raven then at Ra's al Ghul.

"Right," Beast Boy nodded, standing. "Come on Rae. We need to stop him."

"Right," Raven nodded, standing.

Both turned toward Ra's al Ghul as he kicked Cyborg out of the way, raising his sword to slash Starfire. Then, he swung his hands, his sword remaining where it was. He stared at his hands, then up at the sword as it sped across the room to Beast Boy's hand. Beast Boy smirked, shifting into a guerrilla, then snapped it, tossing the pieces aside. Then, he and Robin both charged, attacking Ra's al Ghul from opposite sides. Ra's al Ghul ducked and avoided the strikes rapidly, deflecting them easily before catching both of their feet when they kicked at him. Just as he threw them, however, Cyborg's sonic cannon slammed into his side, going off and blasting him into the wall. He groaned, beginning to push himself up just as ten desks slammed down on him, the black aura around them fading. Beast Boy stood as Ra's al Ghul crawled out from under them, cracking his neck and smirking.

"What are you grinning at?" Beast Boy growled. "You've lost."

Just then, Batman slammed Joker into the ground, cuffing him then slammed a fist into his head, knocking him out.

"It took you that long?" Beast Boy asked, staring at the numerous scratches and cuts on Batman's torso and arms, as well as the bruise peeking out from under his mask.

"I told you he was dangerous," Batman said. "But usually not this dangerous. He's been training with Ra's."

"He was a quick study with knives," Ra's al Ghul smirked. "Do it."

Joker began to laugh as one hand opened, a small black cylinder rolling out of his hand. A loud and very quick beeping began to sound from somewhere in the building just as it did. Beast Boy spun toward the safe, flying over and phasing through the door, seeing a countdown timer on the box device, starting at twenty.

"BOMB! ! !" Beast Boy shouted, flying back through the door, using the square hole this time. "LESS THAN TWENTY! ! !"

The Titans and Ra's al Ghul all scattered instantly, Batman grabbing Joker on the way. Before Beast Boy left, he grabbed both the girl and boy with his powers, pulling them with him and hurling them to the sidewalk opposite the building, behind Raven's shield. Then, he turned himself intangible just as the bomb exploding, the concussion still throwing him but Beast Boy passing through Raven's shield then stopping as he crashed into Starfire, who caught him, grunting at the impact but setting on his feet. The shield managed to block the concussion for all of them, but the explosion had launched countless tons of debris skyward, including the vault door. Raven and Beast Boy grabbed each other's hand, raising their free ones and together forming a shield, catching the door as it fell at them, their shield tilted so that even as the shield shattered on impact, it diverted the door into the street where it crashed down harmlessly.

Then, Starfire shouted something, pointing upward. Beast Boy looked up, seeing a streak of dark grey and looked down, seeing the boy was in its path. Before he could take a step, the girl was there, shoving him aside before the chunk of concrete connected her her head and left shoulder all at once, spinning her around once as it embedded itself in the ground, narrowly missing also hitting the boy. The girl crashed to the ground hard and lay still, the boy kneeling beside her instantly.

"What the hell!?" he shouted. "Why would you save me!? You're an idiot! you're an idiot for saving me! Wake up! Wake up dammit! Wake up so I can kill you! You don't get to die like this!"

Beast Boy shoved the boy out of the way as he and Raven knelt, both beginning to heal the girl's head and neck. Beast Boy grit his teeth, feeling his strength leaving him rapidly. She was hurt badly. And fading fast. He pushed the thought away, forcing himself to continue healing her. Reducing the swelling, mending powdered bone, stopping internal bleeding, putting her brain back in its rightful place and shrinking it back to its normal size. As he did, Raven worked alongside him, healing the girl's broken spinal cord, the fractured vertebrae, the rip in her jugular vein, the cracks in her skull after Beast Boy had reduced the swelling in her brain. Finally Beast Boy's strength failed and he fell backward, panting and Raven grit her teeth, doubling her efforts. Internal bleeding. Swelling. Bones. Bleeding. Swelling. Bones. Finally, Raven sat back as well, panting and drenched in sweat but smiling slightly.

"Why the hell are you smiling!?" the boy demanded.

"It's done," Raven said.

"What?" the boy blinked, staring down at the girl as she winced before her eyes slowly opened.

She tried to move and gasped in pain, her eyes wincing closed again.

"Easy," Raven said. "Your arm's still broken, you have whiplash, and you have a hairline fracture down three vertebrae, but I've done all I can for right now. I'll finish healing you tomorrow."

The girl stared up at Raven who frowned.

"The least you could do is say thank you," Raven said. "Or maybe apologize for stabbing Beast Boy."

"She can't," Beast Boy panted, all eyes turning to him. "Right? You can't speak?"

She girl managed a tiny nod, wincing as she did.

"How'd you know?" Raven asked.

"I could sense it," Beast Boy said. "When I was healing her, I could sort of, sense some things. Mostly just her pain and fear, but also I got the feeling that she can't speak."

"What like, she's a mute?" Robin asked.

"No," Beast Boy said, thinking. "More like, she doesn't know how."

Again the girl managed a small nod.

"We'll finish this discussion back at the Batcave," Batman said. "Robin, you're flying with Starfire while I take Joker to prison."

"Wait, what about Ra's al Ghul?" Beast Boy asked, looking around.

"My grandfather's long gone," the boy said.

"Then what about you?" Beast Boy asked. "What do we do with the kid?"

"Blindfold him," Batman said. "Take him back to the cave and lock him up."

"My grandfather always did say you were cruel, but locking up your own son?" the boy growled, everyone staring at him. "That's low."

"What did you just say?" Batman growled.

"My mother is Talia al Ghul," the boy said. "My name is Damian al Ghul. Your son."

"Batman?" Robin asked.

"Lock him in the Batcave," Batman growled. "I'll sort this out when I get back from Arkham."

With that, he picked up Joker, slamming his head into the wall to incapacitate him for real, then throwing him into the batmobile and climbing in, speeding off. Beast Boy walked over to Damian and ripped his own sleeve off, tying it around Damian's eyes before chopping him in the side of the neck, knocking him out and lifting him with his powers, Raven carefully lifting the girl. Then, she and Beast Boy sank into the ground, flying through it with their two charges back to the Batcave as Starfire flew Robin and Cyborg drove the T-car.

* * *

Read and review.


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

 _"Italics with quotes is Cassandra writing something."_

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Family

"Why are Deathstroke, Ra's al Ghul, and Joker working together?" Batman demanded. "Answer the question!"

The girl stared up at him, pencil and paper lying untouched on the table before her.

"Why did you turn on them?" Batman demanded, deciding to try another question. "Answer the question or I swear to God I'll throw you in Arkham to be at the mercy of the murderers and rapists in-"

"Batman," Robin's voice cut in, Batman turning to him. "She's a little girl. A little girl that is clearly trained to be an assassin and that was working for Slade, granted, but still a little girl."

"Let me try," Beast Boy said. "I'm slightly less...terrifying, than you."

"Fine," Batman snarled. "You have five minutes to get her to talk or she's going to Arkham."

With that, Batman swept out of the room, Robin closing the door as he sat down and Beast Boy walked over, shifting into a kitten and hopping up onto the table in front of her, purring. She smiled slightly and tentatively reached out a hand. He stretched his head forward, brushing it against her hand and she began to pet him slowly, scratching behind his ear for a moment before he turned, walking over to drop down into the chair beside Robin, shifting back and sitting down.

"Do you have a name?" Beast Boy asked.

The girl stared at him a moment before picking up the pencil, writing something down and holding the paper up.

"Cassandra Cain," Beast Boy read, looking to Robin who looked confused.

"Cain?" Robin blinked. "David Cain?"

The girl nodded.

"David Cain is your father?" Robin clarified.

Another nod.

"Who's your mother?" Robin asked.

Cassandra wrote something else down and held it up.

 _"Lady Shiva."_

"I see," Robin nodded.

"Thank you for saving me and Raven," Beast Boy said, the girl staring at him. "We both would have died if you hadn't blocked that slash, so, thanks."

She stared at him before miming stabbing herself.

"No I'm not mad that you stabbed me," Beast Boy said. "The stab wound, while fatal normally, was easy enough to heal once the sword was out and you were...distracted. But, I'm curious, why help me at all? Why not let him kill us both? Why turn on Slade and the others?"

She began to write and Beast Boy shared a smirk with Robin, waiting patiently.

 _"My father left me to train with and serve Deathstroke. Deathstroke ordered me to serve Ra's al Ghul. Ra's al Ghul ordered me to kill you. I tried. I failed. But I could see how much even my attempt caused both you and the grey girl to suffer and how afraid you were. I didn't like it. And I saw how much you care about each other. I've never had someone cry because I was hurt, or felt the need to cry because someone else was hurt. I didn't want to see either of you cry again, so I stopped Damian al Ghul."_

Beast Boy nodded.

"Why didn't you ever learn to talk?" Beast Boy asked.

 _"Father punished any sound I ever made that was similar to speech, so that everything I am would focus on combat and killing."_

"But you don't want to kill?" Beast Boy asked.

Cassandra shook her head.

"Your father and Deathstroke won't be pleased," Beast Boy said.

Cassandra nodded.

"How did you learn to read and write?" Beast Boy asked.

 _"Practiced at night when Father thought I was asleep."_

Beast Boy grinned and nodded.

"Clever," Beast Boy nodded. "Alright. One more question. Why save Damian? He obviously wasn't your friend. You were enemies at the time. So why save him?"

The girl stared down at her lap. Then, her shoulders rose, barely an inch.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

Cassandra lifted the pencil but hesitated, then began to write slowly, thinking about what she was saying a lot more this time.

 _"Didn't want to see anyone else hurt. Didn't want to see anyone else die. Reacted without thinking."_

"I see," Beast Boy nodded, holding back a small smile. "So what do you think we should do with him?"

 _"Deserves death. Deserves to be locked away."_

"I didn't ask what he deserves," Beast Boy smiled. "What do you personally think we should do?"

Robin eyed him suspiciously but he ignored him. After a moment, Cassandra wrote something else.

 _"Mercy. Second chance. Not evil. Only shown one path."_

Beast Boy smiled, looking to Robin, who had a ghost of a smile on his face as well, nodding slowly.

"Thank you Cassandra," Beast Boy said. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to stay in here for a little while, alright? Until we can convince Batman to be nice."

Cassandra nodded, staring at the floor again.

"Don't worry," Robin said. "He's got a soft heart underneath all of that hard exterior."

Cassandra nodded and Beast Boy and Robin walked out of the room, taking the paper and closing the door and finding Batman waiting.

"A kind heart?" Batman growled, turning and walking away from the cell.

"She's a kid," Robin said holding out the paper. "She chose to help us, and doesn't want to kill. And she wants Damian to be spared despite the fact that they were fighting against each other since before she turned to our side. And she's good. She'd make an excellent Batgirl. She's trained, she's silent, and she already doesn't like the idea of killing."

"So what?" Batman asked. "We have a Batgirl. Or did you forget?"

"So give her a different name," Robin said. "Just train her to be a detective. And have Alfred teach her to speak. And take her under your wing. It wouldn't be too much different than taking me in. Just less work involved to train me and you don't have to deal with her being rebellious."

Batman stared at him before groaning and rolling his eyes.

"And what about Damian then?" Batman asked. "What sort of mercy should I give him? Let him out on the street?"

"Not at all," a female voice said from off to the side, all of them spinning toward it to see a woman wearing a tight black body suit open to just above her navel to give more than plenty of cleavage and long brown hair standing there, leaning on the side of the Batmobile.

"Who's that?" Beast Boy asked.

"Talia," Batman growled. "What do you want Talia?"

"Oh Beloved," Talia smiled. "I'm here because my father said you have our son."

"So it's true then?" Batman asked.

"Yes it's true," Talia smiled. "He's yours. Keep him here. Take him under your wing as well and train him. He would benefit from training under the one man capable of defeating my father."

"Mind telling him that?" Batman asked. "He's been trying to break out all day."

Just then, a vent cover fell to the floor and Damian landed on it looking around and cursing before seeing his mother and straightening up.

"The vent?" Batman blinked. "I could have sworn it was a closed circuit."

"It was," Damian said. "I picked the door then used the vent outside. What are you doing here mother? I have to get back to Grandfather."

"Your grandfather sent me to tell you to stay and train under your father," Talia said. "You're going to be learning from him, learning to do things his way, and becoming as great as you can."

"Why?" Damian growled. "I'm good enough."

"Because each time Batman and your grandfather have fought in the past, your grandfather has lost," Talia said. "He recognizes that Batman is better than he is, so he wants you to learn under the best fighter alive."

"Fine," Damian said.

"Damian," Talia said. "This isn't going to be a few months long. Your father is going to be adopting you, in the eyes of the public. It'll be years."

"Whatever," Damian grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. "I get it. I'm going to be here for a while."

"Be good, alright?" Talia asked. "Listen to your father and try to do what he says. He really does know what's best, even though he can be...difficult at times."

"You're the one that drugged me," Batman said.

"Only once," Talia said. "Anyway, I need to go. We need to finish preparing for war."

"Against who?" Batman asked. "And why were they robbing a bank?"

"They weren't robbing a bank," Talia grinned. "And we're at war with an intergalactic criminal known as Blitz."

Beast Boy and Robin's jaws dropped, Batman's jaw hardening.

"You've met him?" Talia asked.

"He...he nearly killed me," Beast Boy said, a hand going to his abdomen, where he had been stabbed.

"I see," Talia said. "It's good that you lived. Either way, I need to go. Goodbye Beloved. Be good Damian."

Damian grunted and Talia stepped backward into the shadows of the exit tunnel and was gone.

"Great," Batman said. "Well Dick, looks like we have to find them new names."

"Actually, I, uh, think it would do Damian some good to be Robin," Dick said, Batman and Beast Boy both staring at him.

"You're quitting?" Batman asked.

"Not quitting," Dick said. "Growing up. Robin is supposed to be by Batman's side, but I've got the Titans now. You can't have Batman without Robin, or, at least, you're not supposed to. So let Damian be Robin. He's got the skill."

"What about you?" Batman asked.

"Well," Dick said. "Starfire once went to the future, and saw the hero I'm supposed to become. I kind of liked the sound of it. I think it's time for me to become that one."

"What one?" Batman asked.

"Nightwing," Dick said.

"I see," Batman said. "Do you have a suit?"

"Well, no," Dick said. "Not yet."

"I see," Batman nodded. "Make one."

Dick grinned and nodded then turned and left quickly. Beast Boy glanced at Batman then also took his leave, flying up through the floor into his room, finding the other, minus Dick, waiting.

"How'd it go?" Cyborg asked, not looking away from his game.

"Both are going to be taken under Batman's wing," Beast Boy said. "And...uh...Robin quit being...well, Robin."

"He what?" everyone stared at him.

"He says he wants to be Nightwing now," Beast Boy said. "He just needs a suit.

Starfire suddenly squealed in delight, spinning in the air then racing off.

"Uh...what was that about?" Dick asked, stepping into the room.

"Beast Boy told us what happened in the cave and she just took off," Cyborg said.

"Right," Robin nodded. "Listen, Cyborg. How soon can you get enough kevlar to make a suit?"

"Couple days," Cyborg said.

"There is no need for such inferior materials," Starfire said, stepping back through the door with something behind her back.

"What?" Dick asked, raising an eyebrow. "Whatcha got there Star?"

"I had this made a short while ago in case you decided that you wished to become Nightwing," Starfire said, holding out the package. "I believed it would take a bit longer, so I had extras made at various sizes to fit as you grew. I am unsure this will fit, bit I believe it will."

Dick took it, raising an eyebrow, then opened it and lifted the suit out. It had some sort of plating covering all of it, but the plates flexed and bent a frightening amount. The entire thing was black except for a large blue bird design in a "V" on the chest. There was a mask with it, similar to the one he wore as Robin but instead of being rounded, it had a spike reaching up and down on each side. He studied it before glancing at Starfire.

"You do not like it?" Starfire asked.

"I do," Dick assured her. "It looks great. But the padding-"

"Oh, that is right," Starfire gasped. "I did not tell you. Those are the Tamaranean equivalent of your kevlar. They are as hard as steel but much lighter and more flexible."

"Wait, really?" Dick asked.

"Yes," Starfire nodded.

"That's awesome," Dick grinned. "Were they expensive?"

"They were a gift from my k'norfka, Galfore," Starfire said.

"I see," Dick nodded. "Thanks Star. It's perfect."

He kissed her briefly before hurrying out of the room to change. A few minutes later, he walked back in with it on and Cyborg whistled.

"Looks good. Cyborg said. "The hair kind of doesn't fit anymore though."

Starfire flew over and inspected his hair for a moment before snatching up Raven's comb and quickly combing Dick's hair down so that it hung loosely on his head, his bangs just barely reaching the top of his mask.

"Much better," Cyborg said. "Good call Star."

"Thank you," Starfire beamed.

"So, what's the plan now boss?" Beast Boy asked.

"Did you tell them about what Talia said?" Nightwing asked.

"No," Beast Boy said.

"Right," Nightwing said. "Well, apparently the reason Slade, Ra's al Ghul, and Joker are working together is that they are all at war. With Blitz."

"Should have known that guy was involved somewhere," Cyborg groaned.

Nightwing nodded.

"For now, we're going to warn the Titans network about him and about Slade and Ra's al Ghul working together," Nightwing said. "Then, we're going to stay and help Cassandra Cain and Damian train."

"Oh god, more of that," Beast Boy groaned.

Suddenly, the TV switched to Batman's face.

"Beast Boy, Batcave, now," Batman said before his face vanished.

Beast Boy groaned by phased down to the Batcave quickly, landing behind Batman who was typing on his computer.

"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked.

"Your blood tests came back, and I finally finished figuring out what was off about your initial strength tests," Batman said.

"You mean besides me suddenly being able to lift a full plate and then some more than usual?" Beast Boy asked. "What?"

"As you were doing the tests, your shapeshifting powers kicked in slightly, allowing your muscles to strengthen themselves rapidly as you used them," Batman said. "Basically, in the amount of time you were doing your initial strength tests, the muscles of your body nearly doubled in strength. After the initial tests, it stopped. Until you began to train in martial arts. Then, it was your coordination, reflexes, and muscle memory that rapidly progressed. I don't know exactly what triggered it, but your body conditioned itself to help you be able to do better in the training in a lot less time. In two weeks, you learned as much as Dick did in about two years, and your strength progressed slightly more than that."

"How?" Beast Boy asked.

"The blood test confirmed a theory I had about it," Batman said. "You'll remember that I took one after the testing, but what you don't know is that when you first arrived, I took an initial blood test. It's good that I did or I would have missed the change."

"Change?" Beast Boy asked.

"Though I don't know what triggered it, the changes you went through are quite simple to explain," Batman said. "You hit puberty."

Beast Boy stared at him.

"No, really," Beast Boy said. "What did you find?"

"I wasn't joking," Batman said. "Your body went through the majority of puberty in the span of one day, then finished it in the next two weeks."

"Puberty," Beast Boy said. "You do realize I went through puberty like any other guy right?"

"Let's call it a second puberty then," Batman said.

"Does this effect my life or hero career at all?" Beast Boy asked.

"No," Batman said.

"Then is there anything else?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes," Batman said. "Thank you for handling the girl. I doubt I could have gotten half that information using my methods."

"Well, your methods included throwing her to rapists and murderers within five minutes if she didn't talk, so I'm going to have to agree with you," Beast Boy said. "Anyway. I'm heading back to the others."

And with that, he was gone.

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	20. Chapter 20

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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Attitude

Beast Boy flipped, Damian's foot passing under him, then landed on his feet and one hand, lunging and throwing a punch of his own, his fist missing by a hair's breadth before Damian's knee crashed into his gut, dropping him to his knees.

"You're pathetic," Damian said. "Maybe if you would spend more time training and waste less time sitting around with the freaky witch girl, you might actually be able to challenge me."

"Watch what you say about Raven," Beast Boy warned. "You will most definitely not like what happens if you make me mad."

"What, you'll hit me?" Damian smirked. "You can't even get close."

Beast Boy shoved himself up, stepping forward and contorting his body around a punch, delivering his own into Damian's side. Damian grunted in pain, lifting off of the ground a couple inches before Beast Boy spun, jumping and slamming a foot into his side, launching him off of the small raised platform they were sparring on. He flipped off of it himself, swinging a guillotine kick at Damian who rolled out of the way, only for Beast Boy to kick off the ground behind himself with his back leg, slamming the other foot into Damian's chest, throwing him. Damian flipped backward, skidding to a stop on his feet as Beast Boy stood.

Damian smirked, wiping a trail of blood from the corner of his lips.

"Alright," Damian nodded slightly. "That wasn't half bad."

Then, he sprinted forward, Beast Boy meeting his charge. Damian swiped at Beast Boy, his legs both ready to kick. Clearly Damian had adapted for Beast Boy's last attack method. Instead, Beast Boy jumped over the punch, flipping forward and slamming an axe kick into Damian, dropping him to the ground before punching downward at him. Damian rolled out of the way then spun back the other way, kicking him backward, hard. Beast Boy flipped, landing on his feet just in time to catch Damian's punch, growing into a guerrilla and lifting him off the ground, his free hand catching both feet, holding him sideways. Just as he began to pull lightly, Damian yanked, slipping his hands free and grabbing Beast Boy by the head, flipping and pulling his legs free before dropping to the ground and spinning, tripping him. As Beast Boy crashed down, Damian leapt onto him, placing the katana Batman had given to him on his throat.

"Yield," Damian snarled.

"Never," Beast Boy said, becoming a fly and slipping out from under Damian then growing back to his normal size, foot crashing into Damian's head like it was a football.

Damian flopped to the side and Beast Boy stepped back, narrowing his eyes.

"That's it," Nightwing said. "You win Beast Boy. Why didn't you do that last time?"

"A lot of reasons," Beast Boy said. "This kid's attitude is annoying."

"Just wait until he realizes that he lost," Cyborg smirked as Cassie, now called Black Bat, walked over. "Hey girl. What's up?"

Cassie ignored him, staring wide-eyed at Damian.

"Don't worry Cassie," Beast Boy said, stepping up onto the observation platform. "He's alright."

Cassie nodded as Batman walked over, waking Damian up with smelling salts.

"Hey freak, I want a rematch!" Damian spat, standing.

"Your rematch is against me," Batman said. "We continue until you surrender."

"And what happens when you surrender?" Damian asked.

"Let's see about you surrendering first," Batman said.

With that, he threw a roundhouse kick. Damian ducked under it, standing and punching at Batman's abdomen but Batman swatted the punch aside and drilled his knee into Damian's face, dropping him. A moment later, Damian was awake again, growling.

"Rematch," Damian snarled.

"The fight's not over," Batman said. "You haven't surrendered. Have you?"

"Never," Damian snarled, flipping to his feet and striking at Batman rapidly.

Batman blocked everything for several seconds until a punch drilled into his jaw. He stepped backward and Damian jumped, superman punching at Batman only for Batman to step out of the way, his own fist crashing into Damian's gut. Then, Batman axe kicked Damian down into the floor, knocking him out again. As they watched, Damian woke up swinging again and again for around ten minutes before finally being too far gone for smelling salt to wake him up.

"He did pretty well," Beast Boy noted, Cassie staring at him. "Batman won't train anyone who isn't willing to keep getting up, no matter how impossible the task may seem. He doesn't accept quitters."

"Your turn," Batman said, staring at Cassie.

She stared at him worriedly for a moment before straightening and nodding. Then, she ducked under the railing, dropping to the sparring floor and picking up Damian, carrying him to the others, then returned, readying herself. The fight started out much better than Beast Boy or Damian's attempts. Cassie had seen Batman and Damian fight, so she already knew he was fast. She seemed to be able to read body language, as well, allowing her to predict Batman's strike before he threw it. Instead of being knocked out instantly, she was able to last almost a minute each time by dodging his strikes. Finally, though, she too, was unconscious.

"Beast Boy," Batman said. "You and Nightwing together."

Beast Boy nodded, dropping into the ring with Nightwing, shifting into an octopus to lift Cassie out of the way then shifting back, readying himself. Batman nodded and he and Nightwing charged, Nightwing with his bo staff and Beast Boy bare handed. Big mistake. Within seconds Beast Boy was lying on the ground, groaning, and Batman was standing over Nightwing with Nightwing's own bo staff to Nightwing's throat.

"Not good enough," Batman said. "Again."

He threw the staff aside as both titans stood. Then, they charged again, attacking Batman. Batman fended off their strikes for several seconds before catching Beast Boy's kick and slamming him into Nightwing, throwing both.

"Better," Batman said. "But still not enough."

"That's because we're trying to defeat the amazing Batman," Nightwing grumbled, pushing himself up. "No one beat Batman."

"Here," Batman said, tossing a pair of black eskrima sticks with glowing blue ends to Nightwing, who caught them and stared at them. "They connect into a bo staff and can function as stun rods."

Nightwing grinned, nodding and flipping them in his hands as Beast Boy pulled his gloves off, floating them to Raven who caught them, raising an eyebrow. Then, Beast Boy lowered his hands to his sides, flexing them as his fingernails grew into claws.

"You've been practicing partial transformations," Nightwing noted, eyes not leaving Batman.

"I figured it'd be helpful," Beast Boy said. "Gotta say, it's got its advantages."

Then, he and Nightwing charged, Beast Boy speeding ahead and slashing at Batman as he passed, then spinning and slashing at him again. Batman sidestepped the first slash, turning after Beast Boy and stepped backward away from the second, then to the side, allowing Nightwing's eskrima stick to hit Beast Boy in the shoulder, electricity shooting over his body. Beast Boy dropped, convulsing, and Nightwing spun toward Batman, chasing him, swiping rapidly. After several seconds, Beast Boy stood, entire body shuddering, then charged.

As he neared Batman and Nightwing, Batman flipped over Nightwing's eskrima stick and kicked him in the head, finally knocking him out, then picked them up. Just as he turned toward Beast Boy, Beast Boy's fist crashed into Batman's jaw. Batman's head snapped to the side but there was no other reaction. Beast Boy backed up a step as Batman's head slowly turned back toward him, the energy generators on the eskrima sticks shutting off. Then, Batman spent a good thirty seconds beating Beast Boy senseless with them before knocking him out.

"Excellent progress," Batman noted as Raven healed Beast Boy's numerous broken bones, biting her tongue to keep silent and fighting to keep her rage under control. "Still not fast enough, but getting better."

"Maybe if you would train him instead of just beating them into a coma they'd make progress," Raven finally growled.

"The best way to learn is by doing," Batman said.

"No," Raven said. "This isn't learning. In order to learn, you have to be taught. You're doing nothing but using them as punching bags."

"Perhaps you failed to see Beast Boy fight against Robin," Batman said.

"That's because Beast Boy used his powers," Raven said. "And at the bank, he showed the skills that _Nightwing_ taught him. Not you! You haven't taught him anything besides how hard you can hit!"

"Raven," Beast Boy said, pushing himself up. "Batman. No offense, but I'm not fighting you again. Raven's right. You haven't actually taught me anything. I'm grateful for everything I've learned since I got here, and I'm grateful for you allowing us use of your home. I'm even grateful for the physical training you forced on me. But I'm not going to let you use me for a punching bag again. I'll help train Damian and Cassandra, but I'm not training under you anymore."

Batman stared at him. Then, he nodded once and turned, walking away. Nightwing walked over, looking impressed.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone stand up to Batman like that," Nightwing said. "Even Joker. I'm impressed."

"Thanks," Beast Boy sighed. "I've just grown tired of needing to be healed every fight I get into."

"You do seem to have made a habit of that," Nightwing said. "Anyway, I'll train you some more tomorrow, but for now, go relax and make sure your telepathic powers don't go out of control."

Beast Boy nodded and he and Raven left the room, heading back to Beast Boy's room and laying down on the bed. Within a few minutes they both were asleep.

* * *

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	21. Chapter 21

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters. So, I need help. I'm not entirely sure where to go with the story. I know where it's going to end, I just don't know exactly how to get there. And also, I'm not sure whether to keep it T or make it M. So let's have a vote through reviews. Suggest ideas for things to happen in the story and also vote for T or M story.

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Nightmare

Beast Boy sat up, yawning and stretching only to stop, slowly opening his eyes as he felt the fear flooding him. He stared at the void before him an the rocks floating around him. He was inside of Raven's mind. But without the mirror this time. But something looked really familiar about it. Maybe it was the statue in front of him. Or maybe it was the screams echoing through the void in a voice he knew better than his own. Or maybe it was the dead Emoticlones around him. Beast Boy scrambled to his feet, sprinting past the statue and shooting into the air, heading toward the same tiny island as the last time. However, when he landed, there was no Passion being tortured by Malchior. Instead, there was a dragon's corpse off to one side, Trigon's off to the other, and a Beast Boy corpse lying in Raven's arms as she sobbed. Beast Boy floated to the ground, staring in shock. For a moment, he was confused. What was he seeing? Finally it clicked. Nightmare. He had pulled her into his, and now she had accidentally pulled him into hers.

He walked over, resting a hand on her shoulder but she ignored him, sobbing and pressing her face to the other Beast Boy's bloody and shredded form. He shook her shoulder but again he went unanswered, as did his attempts to reach her telepathically. Finally he pulled her away from the corpse, forcing her head around toward his. Her eyes slowly opened, staring at him in shock and awe before rage filled them and she shot away from him, her hands lighting up with power as her eyes glowed with it.

"Who are you!?" Raven demanded.

"I'm Beast Boy," Beast Boy said. "The real one."

"Beast Boy's dead!" Raven shouted, firing a blast of energy at him, only for him to block it, much to Raven's shock and confusion.

"No I'm not," Beast Boy said. "I survived this. You saved me, but you had to give me a blood transfusion to do it. That's why I have your powers." _"_ _And it's why we have a telepathic link."_

Raven blinked as his words finally reached her before he felt a sudden tidal wave of relief and understanding flood through her. She swallowed hard, wiping her eyes before suddenly Beast Boy was staring at the ceiling in Wayne Manor, and all around him, bits of furniture fell toward the ground. His hands shot out, catching everything with a grunt of effort and putting it all away. Then, he turned back to Raven, seeing her eyes slowly open. He smiled down at her and she flung her arms around him, sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her back, holding her close to him and resting his cheek on top of her head.

"It's alright Rae, I'm here," Beast Boy whispered, one hand gently trailing up and down her back. "I'll always be here for you."

"I'm sorry," Raven sniffed after a while of crying. "I didn't mean to do that."

"It's alright," Beast Boy smiled. "It was just a bad dream. We all have them. Ours just happen to be a little more destructive."

Raven sniffed again and Beast Boy sighed. He lay back, Raven ending up on top of him and looking up at him in confusion.

"Close your eyes," Beast Boy said.

Raven watched his face for another moment, as though trying to guess what he was planning, before setting her head down on his chest and shutting her eyes. Beast Boy closed his own, forming an entire world in his head using his over-active imagination. Then, he tugged lightly on their mental connection, drawing Raven into his mind. When she opened her eyes, she was wrapped in his arms still, but they were standing in a massive field of flowers on the side of a mountain. Directly over them was a single tree for shade from the sun, even though it was the perfect temperature, the field was filled with every kind and color flower Beast Boy had ever seen, and in front of them, there was a view of a lush green valley with small clouds of fog drifting here and there, waterfalls creating eternal rainbows, and colorful birds flitted and drifted around through the air over them, not enough to hamper the view, but enough to add to it.

"It's...beautiful," Raven breathed. "Where...where are we?"

"Somewhere in South America," Beast Boy said. "I saw it once while I was traveling before the Doom Patrol but I can't remember where it is."

Raven's mouth fell open. "You only saw this once and you recreated it? That's incredible!"

Beast Boy smiled at the praise as he allowed Raven to separate from him, walking out of the shade to the sunlight, smiling as she felt it on her skin, almost as though it were real. She closed her eyes, holding her arms out to her sides and smiling up at the sun.

"It's so beautiful here," Raven smiled. "So peaceful. I love it here."

Beast Boy smiled, sitting under the tree and tipping his head back, feeling his body seem to get a little heavier as his physical body fell asleep. After several minutes, Raven sat down in his lap, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. The view of the valley was stretched out before them and she smiled as she watched it.

"I wish we could stay here forever," she smiled.

"We can come here every night," Beast Boy smiled.

He was partially lying. Maintaining the world was more tiring than he expected. But if she wanted him to make it every night, just for her, he would. She smiled up at him, nuzzling her face into the side of his neck.

"No," Raven smiled. "You wouldn't be able to rest like that. No, once in a while is enough. It's enough to just be with you."

Beast Boy smiled as Raven began to drift off. He closed his eyes, allowing sleep to claim him as well.

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	22. Chapter 22

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

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Lieutenant

Damian rolled under Batman's kick, throwing his own just as Batman was moving to put his foot down. Batman's support leg seemed to all but teleport out of the way and Damian's foot passed through nothing but air seconds before Batman's own foot crashed into his face, launching him backward. He crashed down hard and Cassie sped past him, jumping over one of Batman's kicks and flipping in the air, throwing a lightning fast kick at his head from above. He raised his arms, blocking the kick only for her to swing her upper body down, catching him by the front of his cape then swinging around him, successfully throwing him several feet. He landed in a roll, standing and nodding.

"Good," Batman nodded.

Just as he did, Damian leapt at him from behind only for Batman to bend forward, left leg swinging up and slamming into the underside of Damian's jaw, throwing him backward.

"You need more practice," Batman said, turning on him just as the door opened and Nightwing, Raven, and Beast Boy walked in. "Good, Beast Boy, you're working with Damian first. Raven, I want you to use your powers to help Cassie learn to speak."

Raven nodded and walked over to Cassie as Beast Boy walked toward Damian, who was fuming. Damian struck before Beast Boy had even readied himself, lunging in with a straight punch, a hook already swinging off to the side. Beast Boy stepped out of the way of the straight and caught the hook, using its momentum to flip the arm around behind Damian, shoving it up his back. Damian crashed to the ground, shoulder screaming in pain.

"You're angry and unfocussed," Beast Boy said. "You telegraphed that, badly. If I were any criminal, you'd be dead now."

"Get off of me!" Damian shouted. "I'll beat your ass!"

"Like you just did?" Beast Boy asked. "Or like you did last time? Face it Damian, you're not as good as you think."

"I was trained by the greatest martial artist in history!" Damian spat.

"And I was trained by both Batman and Robin," Beast Boy said. "And I beat you. Being trained by someone great doesn't make you great. Take Cassie for example. She wasn't trained by Batman or your grandfather, and yet she still is capable of beating your ass like a drum."

"I'll beat all of your asses!" Damian spat. "Let me up!"

"If you could beat all of our asses, he wouldn't be holding you down," Nightwing said, motioning for Beast Boy to let him up. "Listen, Beast Boy's right. Being trained by someone great doesn't automatically make you great. You have to work hard for it."

"I was born for greatness," Damian said.

"People aren't born to do anything," Beast Boy said. "We are what we choose to be."

"Bullshit!" Damian spat. "I was born for greatness the same way she was!" He pointed at Raven accusingly. "People like her are lucky! They're just born powerful! they don't have to work for anything!"

"That's not true," Beast Boy said flatly. "Raven has had to struggle her entire life to learn to control her powers. She still has trouble at times. She wasn't born knowing how to use them, either. She was trained. And she wasn't born for greatness either. The original purpose for her birth was to end the world."

"She...she's supposed to end the world?" Damian blinked before snorting in amusement. "Her powers are terrifying, sure, but there's no way she's strong enough to end the world."

"That's because she's not the one who ends it," Beast Boy said. "Either way, it doesn't matter. We're supposed to be training you. So first, we're training you to calm down."

"Right, because you are such a poster boy for peace right?" Damian snorted.

"When I get angry, I turn into a very large, very destructive creature called the Beast," Beast Boy said. "So yes, I'm better at controlling my temper than you."

"Want to find out?" Damian asked.

"Sure," Nightwing said, tripping Damian before he could react, hen grabbing his shorts, yanking them up, hard.

He jumped back as Damian spun, throwing a haymaker. Beast Boy caught his arm and hurled him. Damian rolled to his feet, charging only for Beast Boy to drop and sweep his feet out from under him. Just as Damian hit the ground, Nightwing grabbed him by the back of his shirt and spun, hurling him. He crashed into the wall and Beast Boy grinned at him.

"Well?" Beast Boy asked. "Weren't _you_ supposed to be testing _my_ temper?"

Damian shouted in rage, sprinting forward only to trip over Nightwing's foot. He crashed to the ground, looking back at Nightwing and staring at him. He was standing with his foot outstretched and his hands laced behind his head.

"Believe us about being unfocused yet?" Nightwing asked.

"I...yes," Damian growled before taking several breaths to try to calm himself, though the scowl never left his face. "What are you going to teach me next?"

"Next is combat training, if you think you can stay calm enough," Nightwing said. "I'll be using my eskrima sticks. You'll be using your sword."

Damian nodded, drawing his sword as Nightwing drew his eskrima sticks.

"Nothing fatal or debilitating," Nightwing said. "Incapacitate without crippling."

Damian nodded and they charged at each other. Beast Boy watched them fight in silence for several minutes before shifting into a snake and shooting forward, tripping Damian and allowing Nightwing to slam a stick into his side. Beast Boy shifted back off to the side and Damian growled in anger before returning to the fight. The fight was relatively even, and Beast Boy had to admit that he was impressed by Damian's skill with a blade. Even with only one weapon which was supposed to be inherently slower than two short rods, he was keeping pace with Nightwing. Beast Boy held a hand out, a black sphere forming on the end of Damian's sword, halting it and Damian shouted in anger, releasing the sword, which promptly clattered to the floor between his feet, tripping him as he moved to block Nightwing's attack, resulting in a rod to the right shoulder and hip.

"God dammit!" Damian shouted. "Would you stop doing that!"

"And there it is again," Beast Boy said. "Temper. Anger. Predictability. Cassie is better than you, because she's learned to keep calm and analyze the situation constantly."

"She's that good because she knows body language as her primary literal language," Damian spat.

"Yes, that probably helps," Nightwing agreed. "But even then if she's predictable, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"Why should I care?" Damian spat. "I bet if we went into the streets I'd be able to easily do better than her."

"Is that so?" Nightwing asked. "What do you say Batman?"

"Do it tonight," Batman said from where he was watching off to the side. "Beast Boy, Nightwing, you're going with them."

"Yessir," Nightwing nodded. "Alright, Raven, would you like to come?"

"Sure," Raven said, then returned her attention to Cassie.

"Good," Damian growled. "Now I'll show you all."

"Until then, we'll be training you to fight," Beast Boy said, both he and Nightwing adopting matching stances. "Try to beat us. No powers involved."

Damian glared at him then charged at Nightwing. Beast Boy waited, allowing Nightwing to fight him for a moment before lunging forward, sweeping at Damian's feet before Damian could react, taking them out from under him. Damian landed on a hand, however, and slammed a kick into Nightwing as he moved to attack, then flipped, kicking at Beast Boy only for Beast Boy to block it. Then, Beast Boy threw Damian by the leg and Damian landed on his feet, glaring at them.

"This is going to be too easy," Beast Boy sighed. "Hope he learns fast."

* * *

Beast Boy knelt on the roof of a random building in Gotham, staring down into the alleyway where a pair of thugs, one with a knife, and the other with a lead pipe had cornered a woman.

"Alright, first test, Robin, Black Bat, stop them," Beast Boy said.

Both dropped off the roof, but that was where their differences instantly came screaming into the light. Damian dropped the thug with the knife by slamming both feet into his shoulder blades, breaking several bones. The woman fled the moment he did. Beast Boy leapt off the roof instantly, watching as Cassie landed behind her own opponent silently, dropping him with a series of jabs followed by a kick to the head. Beast Boy landed beside the man Damian had wounded, kneeling and beginning to heal him, keeping his anger at Damian's methods in check.

"What are you doing?" Damian asked. "I beat him."

"You almost killed him," Beast Boy said, Nightwing landing beside him.

"So?" Damian asked. "He's a criminal!"

"We don't kill!" Nightwing thundered, actually seeming to be a few inches taller and a lot more muscular than he really was for a moment. "Under any circumstance! That is the one absolute rule! No deaths! No excessive force! You knock them out quickly, and you knock them out without putting their lives in jeopardy!"

"What's the difference?" Damian asked. "If a criminal dies, it's not like anyone will miss them."

Beast Boy stood, turning and slamming a fist into his jaw. Damian dropped hard and stared up at him.

"If you kill anyone, you're out," Beast Boy growled. "You'll be stripped of the title of Robin, and you'll be cast out. You won't be accepted by Batman. Your mother told you what? To learn from him. To do things his way. His way is, no killing. At all."

"Fine!" Damian growled. "Have it your way."

Beast Boy sighed just as the end of the alleyway toward the street darkened. He turned toward it to find it blocked by thugs, all of them wearing red handkerchiefs around their lower faces. He looked at the other two and saw they had the same thing.

"Oh, a gang," Nightwing said. "Perfect. Robin, Black Bat, get them."

Both charged, tearing into the gang, using the cramped space to their advantage, though while Cassie was careful to drop her opponents with as little injury as possible, Damian was far more brutal, breaking bones freely. Beast Boy looked to Nightwing who sighed.

"He's like Batman," Nightwing said. "Nightwing isn't afraid to get rough either. She's more like me. I'm more gentle than Batman. Though not much."

Beast Boy nodded and they followed, stepping over the unconscious gang members. Just as they reached the edge of the alleyway, one shot off the ground, one arm clearly broken, but the other slashing at Beast Boy with a knife. He spun to catch the arm only for Cassie to step into the way, the knife splitting her shoulder open before she slammed the webbing between the other hand's thumb and index finger into his throat, dropping him.

"Thank you," Beast Boy said. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, returning to beating down the last few gang members with Damian. Within a few seconds, they were finished and Beast Boy walked over to her.

"Let me see it," Beast Boy said.

She turned so it was toward him and he quickly healed it, using his powers to repair the damage to the suit as well. Once he was finished, he sighed just as one of the nearby buildings' front door exploded outward, several of the aliens that served Blitz rushing out.

"Blitz!" Nightwing snarled, activating his communicator. "Batman, Blitz's alien henchmen are here. He might be as well."

"We're on our way," Batman said.

"Shall we?" Nightwing asked.

"Yes," Beast Boy said, cracking his knuckles.

"Let us," Damian said.

"No," Beast Boy said. "They're too dangerous for you to handle right now. Let us handle them. We have experience."

"So?" Damian asked. "I have skill."

"Stay out of this," Beast Boy snarled. "Let's go Nightwing."

The two of them charged at the two aliens but both turned to them, releasing a high-pitched, ear-splitting screech. As soon as they did, a skylight in the top of the building exploded open and Blitz flew out on a hovering metal disk with several spots on the bottom glowing. He grinned at the two.

"Hello again young Titans," Blitz said. "Richard, I love the new uniform. Beast Boy, you really are going to have to update soon. Purple's just not that becoming of a color for you. Anyway, I have what I need, and I have no interest in playing with you today. I'll let my lieutenant deal with you."

He whistled and the same creature as before shot out of an alleyway nearby. how they hadn't seen it, he'd never understand. Blitz jumped on as the disk shrunk down into one the size of a stopwatch, which he caught. Then, the creature was off. Beast Boy looked back at the aliens as they charged, Beast Boy slamming both into a wall with his powers, rendering them unconscious.

"Lieutenant," Beast Boy said.

"I know," Nightwing nodded.

Then, another person walked out of the building. This one wore armor styled the same way as Blitz's, though his was much larger to accommodate his much larger size. His skin was a rocky grey with patches of scales here and there, reptilian eyes, sharp teeth, pointed ears, and clawed fingers.

"Hello Titans," the thing said, its voice higher than its size would suggest, though clearly male. "You're a few short."

"How does Blitz's entire army know us?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't know," Nightwing said. "Shall we?"

"Let's," Beast Boy growled.

Both charged, the creature moving to meet their charge. It slashed at them, standing a full foot and a half taller than them, and they both slid under it before jumping and slamming uppercuts into its jaw. it staggered backward and Beast Boy held his hands out, blasting it backward further. It staggered away just as Damian and Cassie leapt over them, both throwing a kick. Its hand snapped up, catching Damian's foot and using him as a club to knock Cassie aside before throwing him after her.

"Stay out of this!" Beast Boy shouted. "We'll keep him busy, you two get out of here."

He dove out of the way of the alien's attempt to stomp on him then transformed into a gorilla, slamming several punches into the Lieutenant. Finally it caught a punch just as Nightwing slammed both eskrima sticks into the side of his head. He dropped Beast Boy and nightwing slammed the suddenly electrified sticks into opposite sides of the Lieutenant's waist, electricity racing over its body instantly. It roared in pain and rage before spinning and backhanding Nightwing away, the eskrima sticks falling to the ground. Then, it turned, catching Beast Boy by the throat.

"I wonder how your demon bitch will react when she finds your throat crushed," he grinned.

Beast Boy grinned, despite not being able to breathe. Then, the grin fell away, replaced by anger as Cassie leapt up behind the Lieutenant, slamming a kick into his head, hard. He shouted in surprise and pain, dropping Beast Boy who instantly swept his feet out from under him. however, before either could continue their assault, it was on its feet again, grabbing Beast Boy by the head and smashing him into Cassie, throwing her away before slamming Beast Boy's head into the ground. Then again. Just as he pulled his head up a third time, Cassie stepped up beside him with Nightwing on the other side, both slamming an eskrima stick into the Lieutenant's face, knocking him backward. He shouted in rager, hurling Beast Boy into Nightwing before charging at Cassie. She dove forward, between his legs and took them out from under him just before Damian arrived, smashing a very solid kick into the Lieutenant's head. The Lieutenant stood, swatting Damian away and turned on Cassie. He lunged, swiping at her rapidly, roaring in rage as he did. Damian tried to move to help but was again backhanded. Then, a slash connected, tearing Cassie's side open and throwing her less than a second before Beast Boy, now a cheetah, leapt into the air, transforming into a rhino, and slammed into the Lieutenant's back. He crashed down the alleyway, putting a hand down and slamming his feet down, stopping himself as Nightwing moved to stall him, Beast Boy trying to heal Cassie.

Beast Boy looked toward the fight just as Nightwing sailed past him, crashing into the wall. He stood, turning to face the Lieutenant as it roared, charging. Then, someone landed in front of Beast Boy and his heart stopped. Slade. Slade raised a pistol, shooting out both of the Lieutenant's knees, dropping him to the ground in a roaring, agonized heap. Then, he shot both arms. Once the Lieutenant was disabled, he turned back to Beast Boy, watching him silently.

"Heal her," Slade said. "We'll need her for the war."

Beast Boy returned to healing her instantly, but glared at Slade. "What do you mean we?"

"We, as in Ra's al Ghul and I will be helping you all fight against Blitz," Slade said. "You'll need it."

Beast Boy finished his work, helping Cassie up and glared at Slade just as the other Titans landed around him. "It's alright. He saved us. He's going to help us fight Blitz."

"I don't trust him," Batman said.

"We need him," Nightwing said reluctantly. "Blitz's lieutenant was too strong for us. He's over there."

He gestured toward the Lieutenant and Batman nodded, going to restrain him for safety.

"Slade, leave," Batman said. "Or I'll arrest you."

Slade shrugged, turning and walking away. "The offer stands, Titans."

Then, he stepped into an alleyway and was gone. Beast Boy sighed as Damian walked over.

"You're an idiot," he said, scowling at Cassie. "What were you thinking trying to fight him alone?"

"She was saving me," Beast Boy said.

"So what?" Damian asked. "If we had all worked together, we might have had a better chance."

"We were going to lose no matter what," Nightwing said.

"Well, this just proves I'm better than her then, since she was wounded and I wasn't," Damian said.

"You're not better," Beast Boy growled. "Cassie is better than you're ever be. Not because she's better at fighting than you. I don't care about that. Power may count for the physical part but the part that matters you'll never even come close to."

"What are you talking about?" Damian demanded.

"She's a better person than you could ever be, Damian," Beast Boy said. "She values human life, for starters, she's intelligent, she's a million times braver than you-"

"I've never run from a fight in my life!" Damian snapped.

"It's not about running away!" Beast Boy snapped. "Being brave isn't charging into a fight that you know you'll win! That's arrogance! Bravery is charging into a fight that you know you will _lose_!"

Damian stared at him in confusion.

"Bravery is fighting even though you know you can't win," Beast Boy said. "Bravery is sacrificing yourself for a friend, even if it's not entirely needed. Or shoving an enemy out of the way of falling debris and getting hit yourself instead, simply because doing so is the right thing to do. _That_ is bravery. You're not brave. All you are is an arrogant, spoiled brat who whines when he doesn't get his way and thinks that power and skill in battle are the only things that matter in this life. And in my opinion, you're not worthy of being the Robin. And unless you learn what real strength and real bravery are, you never will be."

With that, Beast Boy turned, flying into the air, Raven following. Damian stood in stunned silence for several minutes before turning to Batman.

"Go back to the house," Batman growled.

"But-"

"Go!" Batman snapped.

Damian fell silent and raised his grappling gun, leaving toward the batcave. Nightwing followed and Batman sighed.

"Are you alright?" he asked Cassie, who nodded. "Alright, let's head home. I think you've had enough for tonight."

Cassie nodded again and they all turned, returning to the batcave, then from there to the mansion.

* * *

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	23. Chapter 23

I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

* * *

The Blob

Beast Boy watched with a blank stare as Batman spoke with the Lieutenant. So far, the Lieutenant had yet to say anything even remotely useful, constantly answering Batman's questions with questions about Batman's secret life as Bruce Wayne, or about the Teen Titans, or other heroes, proving that he obviously knew the secret identity of every single hero on the planet, as well as their histories, their relationships to one another, and that he had no interest in revealing anything about Blitz, his plans, or their forces.

"We're getting nothing out of this, even with Batman interrogating him personally," Nightwing said. "Could you and Raven try going into his mind again?"

"The last time we did that, the force of his willpower's rejection gave us both a migraine for the last two days," Beast Boy said. "We're not going in again. Is there any other way?"

"No," Nightwing sighed. "We'll just have to hope Batman can crack him."

"Why was Blitz there?" Beast Boy asked.

"We don't know," Nightwing said. "The building was the home of a nuclear physicist. But they found the body of him and his entire family. Whatever Blitz wanted, he got it."

Beast Boy nodded as well and sighed. "How are we supposed to fight them when we don't know anything about them?"

"We know that they know all of us," Nightwing said. "Literally, all of us. Whoever they are, they're clearly watching us."

Beast Boy nodded in agreement. "I'm worried. I don't think we're safe here. Even though he's restrained. And I doubt he'll be staying restrained for as long as we need."

"It feels like something's off," Nightwing nodded. "Like we're missing something ridiculously massive."

"I'm as afraid now as I was back when Trigon took over the world," Beast Boy said.

Nightwing nodded just as Batman stepped out of the room, resting his head in his hand.

"I'm considering torture," Batman grumbled. "We definitely can't leave him unguarded."

"He's too calm," Beast Boy said. "He's being held prisoner, at the very least I would expect him to be annoyed. But he's perfectly calm and happy."

Batman nodded in agreement. "He's definitely cocky. But it seems like he actually wants to be here."

"I doubt that's a good thing," Beast Boy said. "Batman, do you have anything dangerous here besides your equipment?"

"No," Batman said. "I don't keep anything they'd be interested in here. I don't think."

"We don't even know what would interest them," Nightwing pointed out.

"True," Batman said. "Black Bat, Robin, you'll be staying here to keep an eye on him. If he does anything, call us."

Damian and Cassandra nodded. Damian hadn't spoken once since they had gotten back, not that Beast Boy was exceptionally unhappy about that. He was a little worried about Damian's emotional state though. It was a jumbled mess. He sincerely hoped Damian had finally learned his lesson, but he wasn't sure.

"You look worried," Nightwing said as they made their way up the staircase leading out of the batcave.

"Damian's confused," Beast Boy said. "About what happened yesterday. What I said."

"Isn't it good that he's thinking about it?" Nightwing asked.

"I would think so, yes," Beast Boy nodded. "But...I don't know. I'm worried that maybe the lesson didn't stick. Like...maybe he's going to decide he doesn't want to be Robin, and go dark."

"We'll keep an eye on him," Nightwing said. "Don't worry. We'll figure out how to help him."

"What if we can't? What if the only way to help him is to kill him." Beast Boy watched Nightwing's expression, feeling his emotions as he considered.

"There's always another way," Nightwing said.

Beast Boy nodded as they stepped into the living room.

"Well, ya see, Tamaranean steel is harder than anything on Earth...so...I was just wondering if...ya know...maybe...possibly...I could..."

Starfire giggled as Cyborg struggled to speak. "Yes, Cyborg. I can ask if they'll make Tamaranean steel plating for you."

Cyborg cheered and hugged Starfire who laughed. Off tot he side, Raven was meditating. Beast Boy decided to leave her to it, so instead he walked over to Starfire and Cyborg with Nightwing.

"Alright, so, now we need to know what the hell we're dealing with," Nightwing said. "And why they need a nuclear physicist."

"The Lieutenant still won't talk?" Cyborg asked.

"He's having the time of his life," Beast Boy snorted. "We have Cassie and Damian watching him for now, but we've got no intel on anything to do with Blitz."

"Not quite," Beast Boy said, shapeshifting into one of the lizard things Blitz used as foot soldiers. "Let's see...claws, teeth, and the tip of the tail are all sharp and hard." He inspected the tail for several seconds before reaching out and scratching Cyborg's pinky with it. "Harder than steel. The scales are hard too, but more only about as solid as hardened leather. I can see better, and I don't see any shadows so we can assume night vision. I can also smell well. I'd wager better than a blood hound. Scratch that. Definitely better than a bloodhound."

"Why?" Nightwing asked.

"I can smell pheromones and hormones," Beast Boy said before grinning. "Man boss, you've really got to do something about that."

Nightwing's face turned scarlet instantly and Beast Boy laughed even harder. "Oh I smell yours too. I just assumed yours were because you're a teenage guy."

Nightwing's eyes grew until they were almost visible around his mask and Cyborg covered his mouth to hold in a laugh. Beast Boy could feel Raven trying not to laugh as well, and could feel Starfire's confusion through his empathic abilities.

"What else can you tell?" Nightwing asked.

"Well..." Beast Boy said, inspecting his new form. "There's an acid gland in the back of my throat, not sure how strong it is, but we should assume it's deadly. There's also the reproduction problem."

"The what?" Nightwing asked.

"All of these things are born pregnant with the next generation, and there's no actual gender. There's no partner reproduction like any other species I know of, they simply have the next generation of their species inside of them when they're born. They could produce an army in a matter of months starting from three."

"How so?" Cyborg asked.

"Not sure how I know, but these things give birth in about a week, and a week later, that one's fully grown and giving birth to another. So lets say one's alone. One week later, there's two. A week later four. By the third week, there's eight. By the end of the month, sixteen. By two months there's two hundred fifty six of them." Beast Boy explained.

"I don't think I like those aliens," Cyborg said. "How long's their life cycle?"

Beast Boy considered for a few seconds. "Six months."

Nightwing nodded and Beast Boy shape-shifted again, into the serpent thing Blitz rode this time.

"Flexible, agile, heightened senses, teeth, claws, tail, wings," Beast Boy listed. "Acid glands. Run of the mill movie monster, it sounds like." He shifted back and sighed. "Just wish we had something that could challenge Blitz."

"Your phoenix form can," Nightwing said.

"Not enough," Beast Boy said.

"We'll figure something out," Nightwing said.

"Maybe there's a type of mythical creature you can transform into to give you an edge," Raven suggested. "Or maybe you can learn to become an alien, like a Kryptonian."

"That would be nice," Beast Boy snorted before sighing. "I don't understand what Blitz is after. With those creatures, he could wipeout or subjugate the Earth in months if that's what he wanted. He could go to war easily. And the Earth would have no way to stop him."

"I agree," Nightwing nodded. "He's clearly after something else."

"Maybe R'as al Ghul or Slade know," Cyborg suggested. "We could ask. They _are_ fighting against Blitz too."

"It's worth a shot," Nightwing sighed. "Maybe. But not right now. Right now, we need to find a way to crack the Lieutenant."

They all nodded and Beast Boy looked toward the door just as their alarms, which were sinked to the batcave's computer, went off. They all turned, running back to the cave, Damian and Cassie glancing at them from where they were standing guards.

"What's going on?" Nightwing asked, seeing Batman already at the controls.

"There's been a break in at the museum," Batman said.

"Why?" Nightwing asked.

"I don't know," Batman said. "I can't tell."

"What do we do?" Nightwing asked. "We can't leave the Lieutenant unguarded here. He's too dangerous to risk taking."

"Maybe...just this once...it'd be better to..." Cyborg trailed off as Batman glared at him.

"No," Batman said. "I'll watch him myself. Nightwing. Take your team along with Robin and Black Bat and deal with whoever it is."

Nightwing nodded and they all left, Beast Boy glancing back at Batman as he drew a pair of batarangs. Then, Beast Boy turned back to the front, following Raven through the wall, exiting through the ground and flying out over the city, reaching the museum soon. They landed on a nearby rooftop just as Damian and Nightwing landed beside them, Starfire setting Cyborg down and Cassie hanging from a gutter below them, holding a pair of binoculars to her eyes.

"What enemy is near Gotham that can melt the front of a building?" Beast Boy asked, staring at the egg-shaped melted hole in the front of the museum.

"Um...I...don't know," Nightwing said. "Black Bat? Robin?"

"No idea," Damian said, Cassie shaking her head.

"Okay," Beast Boy said. "Something new. Why are they here?"

"No idea," Nightwing said. "Mind doing some recon?"

Beast Boy nodded, he and Raven sinking into the ceiling, rising out of the floor inside and hiding in the shadows, watching the intruder. It wasn't what they were expecting. It was a humanoid blob of a green, snot-looking substance. A drop of it fell from its arm, plopping to the floor, hissing and smoking as it ate its way down through the floor. The snot blob was walking from display to display, staring at each with its smooth, featureless head for several seconds before moving on. Beast Boy scanned the items. They were all ancient-looking stone tablets and sculptures. There were a few sets of jewelry, and there were a few ancient weapons, including an ancient spearhead and sword blade, both of which looked almost completely unaffected by age. The blob stopped, picking up both, both sinking into its skin without a hint of the acid affecting them. Then, it walked toward a display of two items. A sculpture of a scarab, and a small round tablet with carvings in the center. As the blob reached for the tablet, it glowed.

 _"Stop him"_ Raven said telepathically.

Both blasted the thing instantly, launching it over the display and into the wall where it splatted to the ground before reforming, the spear and sword blades still inside of it. Beast Boy floated the tablet and scarab to himself as the blob raised its arms. Small balls of itself began to fly at them and they dove to the side, barely avoiding the deadly hail of acid bullets. Beast Boy sank into the ground, shooting at the blob, rising out of the ground and coating his hand in dark energy, punching it and sending it blasting through the wall into the street. As it did, Nightwing, Damian, and Cassie all ran around the corner only to stop as someone else landed in front of them. He wore a tight red body suit with black pants and a black cowl, similar to the robin uniform but with a cowl like Batman's.

"Damn. I meant to catch the bat. I suppose I'll settle for the bird. And two more members of the bat clan. Good. I'm Red Robin." He drew a bo staff, Nightwing drawing his eskrima sticks and combining them, spinning them for a moment before readying himself, Red Robin doing the same. "I'm glad you feel like playing."

Just then, Cyborg's sonic cannon blasted a hole in the snot blob but the hole filled in a moment later and it turned to him, most likely unimpressed. As it was raising its hand, Starfire's energy-coated fist crashed into it, launching it at Red Robin, who pole-vaulted over it, allowing it to splatter across a wall, then reform as the wall melted.

"This thing's going to be a pain," Beast Boy said.

"What is it?" Cyborg asked.

"Not sure," Beast Boy said. "It's acid, though."

Cyborg nodded and Beast Boy charged, coating his hands with dark energy again. The thing didn't let him close this time, though. Its arms shot outward, extending and swinging at him like whips. He dove out of the way, the arm crashing down hard enough to send a cloud of dust into the air and crack the pavement. As Beast Boy stood, he launched several blasts of dark energy at the thing, blasting it backward through a wall. Then, its arms shot out at him again, a black aura yanking Beast Boy out of the way. The thing walked out of the building again, several blasts from Cyborg's sonic cannon punching through it harmlessly, the holes resealing in an instant. Starfire launched several star bolts at it, but when the smoke cleared, they had done nothing.

"This is going to be a problem," Beast Boy growled.

He turned, shape shifting into a cheetah and charging at Red Robin from behind instead. Red Robin leapt into the air, smirking, only for Beast Boy to change into a gorilla, leaping into the air and swatting Red Robin out of it, knocking him unconscious. Nightwing restrained Red Robin instantly and turned to the blob, along with Damian and Cassie.

"So, anything you can tell us about this?" Nightwing asked.

"It's made of acid," Beast Boy offered.

Nightwing nodded and Beast Boy fired several blasts of dark energy, Raven doing the same. As the blasts peppered it, it raised its hands, firing balls of acid back, all of them dodging the shots. Nightwing darted forward, flipping over a swipe from the creature's arm and jabbed it with one of his now separated Eskrima sticks, electricity racing over the thing's body. It shrieked in pain and Nightwing leapt backward, grinning.

"It works!" Nightwing said. "Cyborg, shock him!"

Cyborg nodded, forming a sonic cannon and tapping at it for a moment before leaping out of the way of a barrage of acid bullets. Then, he held the cannon out.

"Take a nap!" he growled, firing a stream of electricity.

The blast hit the creature, electricity coursing rapidly over its body as it shrieked. Finally, Cyborg stopped, dropping to the ground and sighing.

"Damn," he growled. "That's exhausting."

He looked up as the creature shot toward him. However, at the last second, Beast Boy appeared in front of him, slamming a gorilla fist coated in dark energy into its face, launching it away. The creature splattered across the ground, melting through it. Suddenly, water began to spray into the air. The creature reformed, standing in the water, unconcerned about the water raining down on him.

"Nightwing," Beast Boy said. "Can you use that?"

Nightwing nodded, raising his sticks and narrowing his eyes at the creature. It raised its arms, acid bullets flying at them again. They began to dodge the bullets until Raven and Beast Boy formed a shield in front of them. The bullets began to melt through the shields, but they were able to hold out. Below the shields, water slowly began to run toward them. Finally, Nightwing stepped forward, Beast Boy forming a second shield a few inches tall to keep the water from running under Nightwing. Then, Nightwing slammed his eskrima sticks into the water, electricity shooting through it and up the creature's body again, ending its barrage of acid bullets and making it scream in agony. After a moment, Cyborg added his electricity blast to the sticks, having swapped out his battery.

"Just fry freak!" Cyborg shouted.

"Are we killing it?" Beast Boy asked.

"Is it even actually alive?" Nightwing asked.

"Yes," Beast Boy said. "I just don't know what it is, and I can't transform into it."

Suddenly, the creature's arms shot outward, smashing straight through Beast Boy and Raven's shields, slamming both Nightwing and Cyborg away, both left unconscious from the electricity. Then, the arm swung sideways, slamming into Beast Boy and launching him to the side, into a building. He stared at the spot he was hit as he lay there. No burn. Its body wasn't acidic when it was still together. He pushed himself up, groaning and feeling his cracked rib sealing. He looked to the creature, watching as Starfire struggled to hit it without being hit. It was a close fight, however, because the creature had learned to stretch its body out of the way to avoid attacks. Beast Boy stood, shooting forward only for a third arm to shoot out of the creature's back, slamming into his jaw and launching him backward. Raven shrieked in rage, shooting forward, peppering the creature with blasts of dark energy, allowing Starfire to land a hit, blasting the creature into a wall. It pushed itself up instantly, smashing Starfire away as she tried to attack it again and Damian and Cassie fell at the thing from above, slamming axe kicks into its back. It dropped to the ground before an arm shot backward, wrapping around Cassie's leg and slamming her into a wall as its other arm smashed Damian away. Then, it stood, turning to Cassie as it raised her then slammed her back down, once, twice, three times. Damian crashed into its side, slicing its arm off with his sword and dropping the sword instantly, grabbing the creature and twisting, flipping it over himself and slamming it into the ground head first. It didn't splatter as it had before, this time. It bounced, landed on its feet, and launched three arms at Damian. Damian managed to dodge all three, lunging forward and slamming a straight punch into its head, making it stagger backward.

As soon as it planted its feet, Raven slammed a dumpster on top of it. It reformed beside the dumpster, picking up and hurling the dumpster back at Raven, but the dumpster was blasted skyward by a black sphere of energy as Beast Boy stood, cracking his neck and walking forward, twin tongues of flame shooting out of his nostrils for a moment.

"Damian, get Cassie away from it," Beast Boy ordered.

Daman turned, sprinting toward Cassie. The thing sent an arm after him but Beast Boy rose out of the ground as a gorilla, grabbing the arm and yanking, swinging the creature over himself and slamming it back down into the ground, splattering it. It rose out of the ground and Beast Boy roared, a stream of white-hot flames shooting down the alleyway, slamming into the creature. It shrieked in pain, dropping to the ground on its legs and four arms, shooting forward as Beast Boy ended the flames. Then, a blast of black energy went off directly below it, blasting it into the air. As it began to fall, Beast Boy shot forward, transforming into a snake, the most poisonous he could think of off the top of his head. As the creature landed, it threw a punch downward at Beast Boy but Beast Boy shot forward, fangs sinking deep into the creature's leg, body coiling around its leg. Suddenly, a dark cloud of liquid began to spread through the creature's body rapidly, the creature shrieking in pain. Finally, Beast Boy release the creature, transforming back into a gorilla and grabbing the creature, hurling it into the air and away from them. Then, the creatures now darker body fell apart, splattering to the ground and failing to eat through anything.

The smell of sewage and rotting flesh hit their noses instantly and they all grimaced. However, after a few moments of the creature not rising again, they turned back to Red Robin, only to find his restraints on the ground and he himself missing.

"We should have seen that coming," Nightwing admitted.

"We had bigger concerns," Beast Boy said. "Come on. Let's get back."

Nightwing nodded and they all headed back to the batcave. When they arrived, they stopped, staring at Batman. He was lying on the ground, bloody and with his uniform torn in numerous places. Off to the side, the Lieutenant was lying with both arms broken backward at the elbow, both legs broken forward at the knee, and a very pissed off expression.

"Looks like you lost," Beast Boy said, floating the Lieutenant back to his cell, sealing it again.

He walked back to the others just as Batman regained consciousness, Raven healing him.

"He got out?" Nightwing asked.

"Yes," Batman said. "But I finally got information. We have a lot to discuss."

* * *

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